With one month to go before their new album, Walking Into Clarksdale,
hits American stores, former Led Zeppelin creative forces Jimmy Page
and Robert Plant have revealed a slate of U.S. tour dates.
The spring and summer outing will take Page & Plant through the South,
Midwest and East Coast, beginning on May 19 at Pensacola, Fla.'s Civic Center and wrapping up 26 shows later on July 16 in New York's Madison Square Garden. Thus far, a two-night stand in Boston is the only stop
with more than a single performance.
Absent from the itinerary are any dates on the West Coast. Those shows are tentatively planned for the fall, according to a source close to the group.
Page & Plant will be on the road for the first time since their 1995 tour in
support of their reunion album, No Quarter. They are expected to compete successfully with acts such as Metallica and Pearl Jam for hard-rock fans' summer-tour dollars.
"I would expect Page & Plant to do quite well," said Gary Bongiovanni,
editor of the concert-industry trade magazine Pollstar. "Certainly
if you look at the popularity that somebody like Ozzy Osbourne has
maintained, you gotta believe that there's still an audience for hard-rock
music. Page & Plant are certainly not overexposed. They haven't been
touring every year. There should be significant demand for them."
The 12-song Walking Into Clarksdale -- recorded and mixed by Steve
Albini (Nirvana, Breeders) -- lands in stores April 21.
The first single, "Most High," finds Page & Plant again working
with the exotic, international flavors featured on No Quarter. But the
new album largely eschews worldbeat sounds in favor of a return to the hard rock that guitarist Page and singer Plant pioneered with Led Zeppelin
throughout the 1970s.
This time out, Page & Plant will not be accompanied by a live orchestra as
they were on the No Quarter tour, said a representative from
the band's British management company, Trinifold. With or without stringed
accompaniment, Bongiovanni expects the upcoming tour to draw fans across
the age spectrum.
"An orchestra would tend to be more appealing to an older audience, and Led
Zeppelin fans have gotten older, obviously, just like the members of the
band," he said. "But I think they're an act that has quite a bit of
credibility with younger hard-rock fans as well."
Singer/songwriter and violinist Lili Haydn will open for Page &
Plant through June 15. A supporting artist for other dates has yet to be
confirmed.
Page & Plant Tour Dates:
May 19; Pensacola, Fla., Civic Center
May 20; Tampa, Fla., Ice Palace
May 22; Miami, Fla., Civic Center
May 23; Jacksonville, Fla., Coliseum
May 26; Charlotte, N.C., Coliseum
May 29; Atlanta, Ga., Lakewood Amphitheater
June 1; Birmingham, Ala., Civic Center
June 2; Nashville, Tenn., Coliseum
June 4; Oklahoma City, Okla., Myriad
June 6; Kansas City, Mo., Kemper Arena
June 7; St. Louis, Mo., Keil Center
June 9; Indianapolis, Ind., Market Square
June 10; Milwaukee, Wis., Bradley Center
June 12; Minneapolis, Minn., Target Center
June 13; Fargo, N.D., Fargodome
June 15; Chicago, Ill., United Center
June 26; Detroit, Mich., Palace
June 29; Grand Rapids, Mich., Van Andel Arena
July 1; Pittsburgh, Pa., Civic Arena
July 3; Cleveland, Ohio, Gund Arena
July 4; Toronto, Ont., Molson Amphitheater
July 7; Washington, D.C., MCI Center
July 8; Virginia Beach, Va., Virginia Beach Amphitheater
July 10; Philadelphia, Pa., Corestates Arena
July 13; Boston, Mass., FleetCenter
July 14; Boston, Mass., FleetCenter
July 16; New York, N.Y., Madison Square Garden