Led Zeppelin Kezar Stadium 1973

When photographer James Fortune took his legendary photograph of Robert Plant holding a dove in front of a massive crowd at Kezar Stadium, the Beatles record for attendance was being broken by a new generation of musicians from England. The mop-tops were replaced by big hair and extended guitar solos, only the accents were the same. To check out this picture, go to www.fortunesicons.com

Kezar Stadium (pronounced key-zar) was buildt in 1922, and is located in the southeastern corner of the Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. It had many sporting events, and the San Francisco 49’ers and the Oakland Raiders started there.

Besides musical concerts, Wikipedia says: “Several scenes from the film Dirty Harry were filmed there later in 1971. The film’s fictional antagonist, the Scorpio Killer, works as the caretaker at the stadium.”

After football moved out in the 1970’s, the stadium began hosting rock concerts, with many famous acts performing there. It was a natural progression, as San Francisco had many recording studios and international bands residing there.

Noted musicians who performed at Kezar included Led Zeppelin, The Doobie Brothers, Jefferson Starship, Tower of Power, Joan Baez, The Grateful Dead, The New Riders of the Purple Sage, Carlos Santana, Waylon Jennings, and Neil Young.

The aging stadium was demolished in the late 1980’s, and replaced with a 10,000 seat venue.