On September 5th, the band officially announced that the "Led Zeppelin, The 1980’s Part One" Tour would begin in October. Nineteen shows were scheduled for the Northeast United States, culminating in four nights at the Chicago Stadium on November 10th, 12th, 13th and 15th. The mayhem surrounding the sale of the tickets for these shows was so great that a unique system was devised to eliminate riots and scalping. Click here to see the ticket ad. The tickets were custom printed by Ansell-Simplex Ticket Company. On September 20th, the tickets were messengered by truck to security at the Chicago Stadium. On the morning of the 24th, Chicago radio stations announced that a limit of four tickets per person could be bought by mail order. An ad placed in the Chicago Tribune gave the details. Fans could acquire the tickets only by mailing in the application form in the Tribune ad with a certified check or money order. The tickets would then be mailed out on a first come first served basis. That evening an unprecedented sequence of events took place. By midnight almost 2,000 people had gathered outside the Chicago Tribune building to get the first issues of the paper with the ad. Mounted police were called to keep order (See photo to right). By 7 am, on the morning of the 25th, the Post Office had sorted and delivered the initial order to the Chicago Stadium. It appeared, by the first delivery of mail, that the shows would be sold out. The Chicago Stadium box office was to have begun processing the orders and mailing out tickets at noon, but by 10 am the public had been notified of the tragedy that had befallen Zeppelin on the other side of the Atlantic. Zeppelin drummer John Bonham had been found dead of alcohol poisoning. Those who knew the band knew it was over. An era had ended. Click here to see the refund letter. Archival photo from the Tom Lounges collection.