Rock & metal
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin, the British pioneers of hard rock, crossed paths with Montreux twice over. Claude Nobs had them play the Casino de Montreux in the very early 1970s. And it was at Mountain Studios, housed in the Casino, that drummer John Bonham recorded “Bonzo’s Montreux” in 1976, a percussion piece named after the town.
Led Zeppelin in Montreux: the Casino, Claude Nobs and “The Nobs”
At the Casino de Montreux (1970-1972)
On 7 March 1970, Led Zeppelin played the Casino de Montreux for the first time, at the invitation of Claude Nobs, then their promoter on the continent. That meeting began a lasting friendship with the festival’s future founder, and the band would return to Montreux in 1971 and then 1972.
A few days earlier, in Copenhagen, the band had had to perform under an assumed name: with Countess Eva von Zeppelin threatening to sue them over the use of the family name, they cheekily billed themselves as “The Nobs”, a nod to Claude Nobs.
“Bonzo’s Montreux”, at Mountain Studios
In 1976, at Mountain Studios housed in the Casino, drummer John Bonham recorded “Bonzo’s Montreux”, a percussion piece treated with electronic effects by Jimmy Page. Named after the drummer’s nickname and the town, it would appear in 1982 on the posthumous album “Coda”, two years after Bonham’s death.