LA Drone

"LA Drone"
Song

"LA Drone" is a short piece of music that the English rock band Led Zeppelin played as an intro tape on the second half of their 1972 concert tour of the United States. It began their concert performances from June 15, 1972 up until June 28, 1972.

The monotonous drone was produced by Led Zeppelin bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones and guitarist Jimmy Page by playing an acoustic guitar with a violin bow in the key of F# and layering the various sounds it produced. The tape of this piece, played through the venue's PA, segued directly into the band's opening number, "Immigrant Song". The drone was intended to build a sense of suspense and anticipation in the concert audience.

The only official release of the piece has been a brief excerpt used as the opening track on How the West Was Won. This captures the recording of "LA Drone" at the Long Beach Arena on June 27, 1972. Despite being only 0:14 on the live album, it was usually closer to a 1:30 in live performances, as can be heard on a number of Led Zeppelin bootleg recordings.

"LA Drone" can also be heard on the Led Zeppelin DVD, being included on disc 2 at the introduction of the band's performance of "Immigrant Song". However, unlike How the West Was Won, the DVD does not include "LA Drone" on the track listing. Also, the DVD features a 0:25 version of the song which is eleven seconds longer than the album version.

List of performances

• 15/06/1972 Nassau Coliseum – Uniondale, New York
• 17/06/1972 Memorial Coliseum – Portland, Oregon
• 18/06/1972 Seattle Center Coliseum – Seattle
• 19/06/1972 Seattle Center Coliseum – Seattle
• 21/06/1972 Denver Coliseum – Denver
• 22/06/1972 Swing Auditorium – San Bernardino, California
• 23/06/1972 San Diego Sports Arena – San Diego
• 25/06/1972 The Forum – Inglewood, California
• 27/06/1972 Long Beach Arena – Long Beach, California
• 28/06/1972 Tucson Community Center – Tucson, Arizona