During Led Zeppelin concerts from late 1972 until 1975 , the band played this song immediately following " The Song Remains the Same " , presenting the songs in the same order as they appeared on the album . They organized their set list in this manner because Page used a Gibson EDS-1275 double-necked guitar for both songs : the top , 12-string neck for " The Song Remains the Same " and then switching to the bottom , 6-string neck for " The Rain Song " . Often , the band would perform the song in the key of A major , a whole step up from the studio version ( as heard on '' The Song Remains the Same '' ) . The song was dropped from the 1977 U.S. tour , but returned for Led Zeppelin 's 1979 concerts in Copenhagen , Denmark and at the Knebworth Music Festival , as well as their European tour in 1980 . " The Rain Song " was the only song from '' Houses of the Holy '' performed on the 1980 European tour . In this incarnation , Page again utilized the double-neck , the only known time he used that guitar solely for the 6-string portion without using the 12-string portion on a preceding song . For all live versions of the song , the orchestral string sounds were played by Jones on either the mellotron ( 1972 – 1975 ) or a Yamaha synthesizer ( 1979 – 1980 ) , as Led Zeppelin never utilised a string section on-stage
1977 U.S. tour
Led Zeppelin North American Tour 1977
The Rain Song