JIMMY PAGE AND THE BLACK CROWES ANNOUNCE DATES FOR MAJOR
SUMMER TOUR TOGETHER
(April 14, 2000) IN TANDEM WITH THE SUCCESS AND ACCLAIM OF THEIR INTERNET-ONLY
CD "JIMMY PAGE AND THE BLACK CROWES LIVE AT THE GREEK"
TICKETS ON SALE APRIL 29 FOR THE FIRST OF THREE LEGS
As their live track "What Is And What Should Never Be" rockets with a bullet
to #5 on Radio & Records’ “Rock Tracks” chart, JIMMY PAGE AND THE BLACK CROWES
have confirmed speculation that they will launch a major concert tour this summer
beginning June 24 in Chicago through early October. Tickets go on sale for the first
of three legs (see itinerary below) on April 29. On the trek, consisting mainly of
outdoor amphitheatres, JIMMY PAGE and THE BLACK CROWES will take the stage either
the night before or after The Who perform at the same venue. Tickets for each show
will be sold separately, but as a special offer for fans who want to see both shows,
they can purchase lawn tickets for both nights and get $7.50 off the normal ticket
price for each night (a savings of $15.00).
This summer’s trek marks the much-anticipated return of last year's heralded and
sold-out six date tour of JIMMY PAGE and THE BLACK CROWES
performing onstage together. It resulted in the current Internet-only album, JIMMY
PAGE AND THE BLACK CROWES LIVE AT THE GREEK, which was released February 29 exclusively
on the musicmaker.com website, who’s sponsoring the tour. Described in reviews as
“vibrant,” “magical” and “spectacular,” the 19 customizable tracks--over two hours
of music--are a mix of newly recorded, classic Led Zeppelin songs and additional
vintage blues numbers.
In a recent interview with Reuters News Service about the current live album, THE
BLACK CROWES’ lead singer CHRIS ROBINSON said: “There’s always been a pretty healthy
dose of Zeppelinesque qualities to all of our records. You’re talking about these
archetypal, rock ‘n’ roll culture songs, y’know? You don’t want to mess ‘em up, man.”
THE BLACK CROWES’ guitarist RICH ROBINSON also told Reuters: “I’m humble in the face
of Jimmy and his work and all the amazing things he’s done. But I’m also proud and
confident in what we do. I knew deep down that, of any band, we’re really one of
the only ones that could have pulled this off well. And when we started playing the
stuff ourselves...it just became more apparent.”
For his part, JIMMY PAGE recently told Rolling Stone: “I’ve always thought the Crowes
were one of the finest live rock bands around, period.” He further noted in Wall
of Sound: “I was amazed they had all the (Led Zeppelin) parts down, because they're
difficult to play, and they're also difficult to hear in some places. It just really
showed the measure of what good musicians they are. They had all the subtleties of
the Led Zeppelin thing, but they also brought The Black Crowes to the party. You
can tell by Chris' vocal approach to everything that it's the Crowes and Chris Robinson.”
For many fans, including members of The Who themselves, the joint venture of The
Who and JIMMY PAGE/THE BLACK CROWES makes conceptual sense. As Who guitarist Pete
Townshend said April 10 at a New York City press conference: "I've always been
a fan of The Black Crowes, and Jimmy played on the Who's first successful record--he
played rhythm guitar on 'I Can't Explain.' It's gonna be good to be together."