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Fleetwood Mac Planning 2009 U.S. Tour

Another legendary classic rock act is set to his the road next year for a North American tour. Fleetwood Mac will start their tour in Pittsburgh on March 1, 2009 at the Mellon Arena. It will be their first tour since the group’s 2003/2004 Say You Will tour which brought them to venues in the U.S. Europe and Australia.

This time the schedule that has been announced so far is a bit less ambitious, but there is word that more dates will be announced soon and the tour will carry on through the summer of 2009.

The tour lineup includes most of the original members including Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Nicks, John McVie and Mick Fleetwood.

Being billed as the “Unleashed” tour, scheduled stops that were announced include twelve U.S. venues and three in Canada. A statement from the group describes the selection of the name by saying, “We love our band and think the title of the tour "Unleashed" perfectly describes how we all feel when we get on stage together — especially in 2009. We’re so happy to get back out on the road, perform everyone’s favorite songs and see our fans.”

Fans planning to attend can expect to be treated to all of Fleetwood Mac’s greatest hits, and if Lindsey Buckingham’s statement to Billboard this past summer is any indication, the group may be working to produce another hit or two when they enter the studio again, which they may do following the upcoming tour.

Timed to coincide with the tour, a new CD/DVD box set will be released through Reprise Records. The set will include previously unreleased material that was recorded during the making of Rumours, as well as a DVD which will feature never before seen footage of the band.

Tour dates announced so far include:

Sunday, March 1st             Pittsburgh, PA          Mellon Arena
Tuesday, March 3rd           St. Paul, MN              Xcel Energy Center
Thursday, March 5th          Chicago, IL               Allstate Arena
Sunday, March 8th             Detroit, MI                Palace of Auburn Hills
Tuesday, March 10th          Washington, DC      Verizon Center
Wednesday, March 11th     Boston, MA              TD Banknorth Arena
Friday, March 13th              Uniondale, NY          Nassau Coliseum
Saturday, March 14th         Uncasville, CT           Mohegan Sun Arena
Monday, March 16th           Rochester, NY           Blue Cross Arena
Tuesday, March 17th          Albany, NY                Times Union Center
Thursday, March 19th         New York, NY            Madison Square Garden
Saturday, March 21st         East Rutherford, NJ   Izod Center
Tuesday, March 24th          Ottawa, ON              Scotiabank Place
Wednesday, March 25th     Montreal, QC            Bell Centre
Thursday, March 26th         Toronto, ON              Air Canada Centre

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Tags: 2009, Fleetwood Mac, tour, Unleashed. Box Set. Rumours

The Faces Currently Planning Tour Dates

With the original line-up all in place, with the exception of the late Ronnie Lane, The Faces are in the process of firming up their tour dates for 2009. The group has also been working on some new material, and sound like they are anxious to get the reunion tour on the road.

“We had a few fantastic rehearsals last week and we’re ready to go. It’s like no time has passed by. We just have to sort out when and where and drop all of the management egos and just do what we can. We know we can do it,” guitarist Ron Wood recently said.

Lane’s spot will be occupied by Rod Stewart’s tour bassist Conrad Korsch.

The Faces disbanded in 1975 when Wood departed to join up with the Rolling Stones and Rod Stewart decided to devote himself to his solo career.

For more information, check out NME.

Tags: 2009, reunion, Rod Stewart, Ron Wood, The Faces, tour

Steve Winwood To Kick Off New Year With East Coast Tour

Like many of his classic rock peers, Steve Winwood does not let his age stifle his desire to make music. The 60-year-old will embark on an east coast tour in January that will take him to seven locations, mostly in the northeast. Winwood’s last excursion was when he teamed with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers for a tour this past summer.

Winwood got his start playing as a backup musician for the likes of Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Howlin’ Wolf, B.B. King, Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley when they were touring in Winwood’s native U.K. Since then he has gone on to play with groups such as the Spencer Davis Group, Traffic and Blind Faith before beginning his own successful solo career that has resulted in platinum albums, multiple Grammy Awards and more recently, the honor of being named one of Rolling Stone magazine’s “100 Greatest Singers of All Time.”

In addition to his solo career and other projects through the decades, Winwood has been in demand as a session player and has worked with a diverse array of artists from Jimi Hendrix to Christina Aguilera.

Winwood’s January tour itinerary is as follows:

15, 16 - New York, NY - United Palace
17 - Mashantucket, CT - MGM Grand Theater at Foxwoods
19 - Baltimore, MD - Meyerhoff Symphony Hall
20 - Montclair, NJ - Wellmont Theatre
22 - Lancaster, PA - American Music Theatre
23 - Niagara Falls, NY - Seneca Niagara Casino Theatre
24 - Kingston, NY - Ulster Performing Arts Center

Tags: 2009, January, Steve Winwood, tour

Eagles Extend Tour Into Next Year

The Long Road Out of Eden just got a bit longer. The Eagles have decided to extend their tour into next year and although that’s good news for fans who have wanted to see them live and have not yet had the chance, there’s even more good news to report.

The cost of the tickets for the newly-added shows will not be accompanied by the additional fees fans have had to endure in the past. The elimination of the fees comes days after TicketMaster acquired a controlling stake in Irving Azoff’s Front Line Management Group, whose roster of acts includes the Eagles. Azoff himself is now the CEO of the new entity, dubbed Ticketmaster Entertainment.

TicketMaster is making moves towards transforming itself into an “all-encompassing entertainment company,” according to a statement from Azoff.

The new shows will commence in January with dates in the Eastern U.S., including Hampton, VA; Charlotte, NC; North Charleston, SC; Greensboro, NC; Greenville, SC; and Birmingham, AL.

Although I’m sure many fans were never sure about the justification for “convenience fees” that had been customary in the past, I am sure that fans will be happy to note their absence when they purchase tickets for next year’s Eagles shows. These days we don’t see prices dropping on many things other than fuel, so it’s commendable that Ticketmaster Entertainment has decided to give fans a break by eliminating those fees.

The current leg of the Long Road Out of Eden tour is scheduled to complete early next month and give the group a little time to rest up and enjoy the holidays. For more details and full tour itinerary, see Live Daily.

Tags: 2009, Eagles, Fees, TicketMaster, Tickets, tour

No Robert Plant Means No Led Zeppelin Tour

With the exception of Robert Plant, the chaps that took the stage at London’s O2 last winter under the Led Zeppelin banner have been sending signals that they are ready to get serious about a tour. Whatever the group comprised of original Led Zeppelin members Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and Jason Bonham will be calling themselves on the road, it seems certain that it won’t be Led Zeppelin.

Recent word from a spokesman for Jimmy Page said that the group has no intention of working together and using the name Led Zeppelin unless Robert Plant is involved. The latest word from Plant regarding any reunion tour is that he has no interest in touring at all for at least two years.

So it appears that all the rumors lately about Page, Jones and Bonham rehearsing with potential lead singers like Steven Tyler, Chris Cornell, Jack White, Dave Grohl and Myles Kennedy might be an indication that they have indeed decided to tour without Plant.

How fans will respond to a tour by “almost Zeppelin” will be interesting to see if it comes to pass. I certainly agree that their decision to avoid the use of the name Led Zeppelin is a wise choice, and lessens the possibility of diminishing the group’s legendary status.

There are probably a lot of fans that refuse to accept the name Led Zeppelin ever being used again after the passing of original drummer John Bonham, so a potential backlash from fans as a result of using the name Led Zeppelin for a group with only two original members is a real possibility.

Whatever they are up to, it seems that Page, Jones and Bonham are serious about it, and we seem to be inching a bit closer to some type of announcement from the trio. Whatever it ends up being, it is sure to have the rock newswire buzzing with activity.

Tags: jason bonham, Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, Led Zeppelin, Robert Plant, tour