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Led Zeppelin founder Jimmy Page returns to Seattle site where band played in 1969

File photo. 

SEATTLE — Jimmy Page, the guitarist and founder of rock band Led Zeppelin, was spotted at Seattle's Green Lake this weekend, where Led Zeppelin played nearly 50 years ago.

The Guitar Store near Green Lake posted a photo Sunday of Page at the remains of the Aqua Theatre, which was constructed in 1950 as part of Seafair and demolished in 1979. Only part of the grandstand remains, and the site is now home to the Green Lake Small Craft Center.

"Perhaps he is on an archeological journey in search for proof of a pre condo boom Seattle," Guitar Store staff wrote in the Facebook post. "The last time people saw him here it was 1969 before most of us were born. Keep Rocking Mr. Page!"

p>Staff at The Guitar Store on Tuesday said they were told Page, 74, was in town because his girlfriendScarlett Sabet, had a poetry reading Saturday night at Elliott Bay Book Company on Capitol Hill. They also were told Page was at Elliott Bay and greeted some folks there, and others on Facebook had similar accounts.

Led Zeppelin's May 11, 1969, performance at the Green Lake Aqua Theatre -- which had a 5,000-person-capacity grandstand -- also drew fans who watched from rowboats. They played between opener Translove Airlines and headliner Three Dog Night. Follow this link to see photos from the Green Lake show.

The concert was nearly five months after the band's first, unadvertised concert at the Seattle Center Arena opening for Vanilla Fudge. Later in 1969, they played the Seattle Pop Festival in Woodinville and packed more than 62,000 fans into the Kingdome on July 17, 1977. Watch the full Kingdome show below.

The most detailed account of Led Zeppelin's 1969 concert at the Green Lake Aqua Theatre was written for HistoryLink.org by music historian Peter Blecha. His full essay is available here.