An archive of pro-shot, color footage of LED ZEPPELIN performing at the Bath Festival in 1970 has emerged online

The footage, which appeared on the ledzepfilm YouTube account, was shot on June 28, 1970, at the Bath & West Showground in Shepton Mallet, where LED ZEPPELIN took the stage alongside such notable acts as CANNED HEAT, STEPPENWOLF, PINK FLOYD, Johnny Winter, Frank Zappa, JEFFERSON AIRPLANE and more.

The footage was confirmed back in 2017 when Professor Steve Chibnall from De Montfort University in Leicester claimed that up to 30 minutes of footage of LED ZEPPELIN‘s performance – shot by director Peter Whitehead – was in existence.

“When Led Zeppelin played, they played in the dark and there was insufficient stage lighting for his cameras,” Chibnall tells Tight But Loose during a panel discussion at London’s Royal Albert Hall. “So he reckoned that the footage, the live footage, was not usable. It is usable because, I mean, it can be, it can be restored now. So you can raise those lighting levels, you can see more digitally.”

Chibnall also relayed to Classic Rock: “What we need to do now is talk to Zeppelin’s management, find out who owns the copyright, and see if we can work on this, improve it and get it realized in time for the 50th anniversary of the festival. That would be nice, wouldn’t it?”

One ten minute segment uploaded to YouTube has been synced to audience recordings of the show, while the remaining 16mm shot footage is silent. 

You can check it out below.