“A massive queue formed when tickets for the Led Zeppelin concert were sold, unlike anything that had been seen since overshoes were sold in Reykjavík for ration coupons during the war,” stated an Icelandic reporter in 1970 during the lead up to the band’s concert. Today marks exactly 50 years since the band’s sold-out show at Laugardalshöll in Reykjavík.
Around 5,000 people attended the concert on June 22, 1970, which was part of the programming of Reykjavík Art Festival. The band’s trip to Iceland is said to be the inspiration for Immigrant Song, which begins with the lines: “We come from the land of the ice and snow, from the midnight sun, where the hot springs flow.”
Reykjavík Art Festival has uploaded some original video footage of Led Zeppelin’s visit to Iceland.
