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Plant, Krauss to play U.S. dates

Friday, January 18, 2008

Robert Plant and Alison Krauss have just announced the dates of their earliest-scheduled concerts to take place this spring.

As of now, four shows in the Southern United States this April will open a brief bout of touring in support of their October 2007 release, Raising Sand.

The first date is April 20, with a performance scheduled at the Palace Theatre in Louisville, Ky. Two shows in Tennessee are to follow: April 22 at the Knoxville Civic Center at April 23 at the Memorial Auditorium in Chattanooga. The final U.S. date announced is April 26 at the BJCC Arena in Birmingham, Ala.

Tickets to three of the above shows will be available through Ticketmaster; the exception is the Chattanooga show, for which tickets are available online through http://www.etix.com/.

A previously announced month-long tour of the United Kingdom and mainland Europe is to follow in May.

In a Jan. 18 news release, Rounder Records said other North American concert dates to take place in June and July have yet to be confirmed.


3 comments:

Nuvo911 said...

He Steve, How ya doing?
Did you read the JPJ interview in Rolling Stone where he said Robert didn’t practice that much with the band and when he did, he didn’t really sing that much?

Now do you see what I was talking about?

Steve Sauer said...

Nuvo, come on now. Robert didn't want to blow his voice. Didn't you hear how he performed on "Since I've Been Loving You" for the best example? He was really into it and went for some notes it's possible he hasn't even attempted to hit in years. Why would he blow it at practice? I think Robert wanted to make sure the Led Zeppelin concert was extra-special for fans, and I think the four gentlemen who played accomplished just that. You'd have to read the New Yorker to find anybody else talking about it being a lackluster performance from any one of the guys!

In other news, I'm doing fine. I'll be at two of the Plant-Krauss shows in Tennessee, which is a long haul from D.C. But my traveling companion is driving all the way from the Philadelphia area and swinging by the nation's capital to pick me up on the way to Knoxville and Chattanooga. Plant said it wasn't his intention to convert Led Zeppelin fans into bluegrass fans, but he and I will be there.

I've been listening to a lot more folk roots/Americana stuff lately, and I've neglected to write here about attending my third Uncle Earl concert earlier this month in Annapolis, Md. I also want to mention a banjo-playing Zep fan in Florida who last week sent me a pair of CDs he's on: Matthew Sabatella's Ballad of America, Volumes 1 (Over a Wide and Fruitful Land) and 2 (America Singing). Good music. Glad to be tuned in to this kind of stuff.

Nuvo911 said...

It's cool.
I was just trying to get a rise out of you.

It's good you like more than just one style of music. That's what makes us Zep fans in the 1st place.

Don't you think Edwards could have waited until after super Tuesday before he decided to pull out?

He could have held on for another 6 days.

Led Zeppelin Reunion


Photo courtesy of Simon Keeping

The surviving members of Led Zeppelin regrouped in 2007, with Jason Bonham on drums, to perform a year-end tribute to Ahmet Ertegun. Their widely praised concert was witnessed in person by fewer than 20,000 people. It is likely never to be repeated, and there are no announced plans to release the concert for home viewing. However, clicking the image above will bring up multi-cam footage of the entire Led Zeppelin performance as it happened on Dec. 10, 2007, at the O2 arena in London.

Many posts on LedZeppelinNews.com have centered on the possibility of a full-scale Led Zeppelin reunion, noting particularly the inaccuracies reported by the popular press.

Page


Jimmy Page stars with fellow guitarists Jack White and The Edge in this guitar documentary, directed by Davis Guggenheim ("An Inconvenient Truth"), which had widespread theatrical showings beginning in August.

LedZeppelinNews.com provided a review of "It Might Get Loud" at that time.

"It Might Get Loud" will be released on DVD and Blu-Ray on Dec. 22 in the United States. Click here to pre-order on DVD or Blu-Ray. Prior to this, "It Might Get Loud" will be available on iTunes for two weeks beginning Dec. 8.

- What else should I know about "It Might Get Loud"?

- What else is Jimmy Page up to?

Plant


Just prior to the Led Zeppelin reunion concert in 2007, Robert Plant released the album Raising Sand with Alison Krauss. Their partnership has been the subject of much critical and commercial success, including victories at the Grammy awards two years in a row.

A follow-up to that album has been in pre-production, but Krauss's current priorities are new recordings and eventual touring with her signature band, Union Station. Progress on the second Plant/Krauss album is anticipated following the completion of the Union Station tour.

More recently, Plant entered the studio with famed U2 producer Daniel Lanois for some recording sessions, the nature of which has not been disclosed.

Following the breakup of Led Zeppelin, Plant went on to a rewarding career as a solo artist. He released six albums of his own between 1982 and 1993, two collaborative albums with Jimmy Page between 1994 and 1998, and two more solo albums since that time. Yet until Raising Sand, his biggest commercial success came in releasing an EP of classic cover material under the name The Honeydrippers.

- What else is Robert Plant up to?

Jones


John Paul Jones is now in one of the hottest and hardest rock bands, Them Crooked Vultures. The frontman, handling lead guitar and vocals, is Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age. Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters is on drums. As for Jones, he offers not only bass and keyboard but also mandolin, keytar, lap steel and whatever else is needed.

One album was released in November, and another is forthcoming. A tour of North America completed in November, and the band now heads to Europe in December and Australia in January.

- What's the latest on Them Crooked Vultures, the group featuring John Paul Jones, Dave Grohl and Josh Homme?

- What else is John Paul Jones up to?

Jason Bonham


Jason Bonham, son of the late John "Bonzo" Bonham, does not take lightly the responsibility of carrying on his father's legacy. Having made a head start at drumming while he was a child, Jason is now passing on the same lessons to a third generation of Bonham drummers.

John Bonham's death in 1980 left such an impact on the surviving members of Led Zeppelin that they knew immediately they could not continue as they were. Yet Jason Bonham's familiarity with the band made him a shoe-in to join his father's bandmates on the few occasions reunion concerts have taken place.

This year marked the 20th anniversary of Bonham's most successful album release to date, the Platinum-certified disc The Disregard of Timekeeping released by his band, Bonham. To mark the milestone, he recently toured with a new band and played under the banner of "An Evening with Jason Bonham."

In the past, Bonham has also toured and/or recorded with Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, Foreigner, UFO, Paul Rodgers, Joe Bonamassa, Virginia Wolf, Airrace, Healing Sixes and Motherland. He also acted in the movie Rock Star and appeared on the reality TV show "SuperGroup."

- What's the latest on Jason Bonham?

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