Plant slams door on Led Zep tour

By Ian Youngs
Music reporter, BBC News



Robert Plant is currently finishing a tour with US collaborator Alison Krauss

Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant has scotched rumours that he is to tour with the band, describing speculation as "frustrating and ridiculous".

Last week, The Sun newspaper reported that he had agreed to a reunion tour.

But he has not and will not go on the road with anyone for at least two years after finishing US dates with Alison Krauss on 5 October, a statement said.

"Contrary to a spate of recent reports, Robert Plant will not be touring or recording with Led Zeppelin," it said.

"Anyone buying tickets online to any such event will be buying bogus tickets."

It's both frustrating and ridiculous for this story to continue to rear its head

Robert Plant

The rock legends got back together for a one-off concert, their first for 19 years, in London last December.

At the time, promoters said 20 million people tried to register for tickets as soon as they became available.

Speculation has since been rife that the surviving members of the band, with Jason Bonham, son of their late drummer John, would hit the road for a highly lucrative tour.

"It's both frustrating and ridiculous for this story to continue to rear its head when all the musicians that surround the story are keen to get on with their individual projects and move forward," Plant said.

"I wish Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and Jason Bonham nothing but success with any future projects."


Jimmy Page performed with Leona Lewis at the Beijing Olympics

Plant has been reluctant to consider other projects during his fruitful collaboration with bluegrass singer Krauss.

Their album Raising Sand has earned them a Grammy Award and a Mercury Music Prize nomination, among other honours.

The other band members, meanwhile, are believed to be keen to work together again.

In August, Jason Bonham told a US radio station that he had been working on new material with Page and Jones.

The Sun has also reported that the trio have auditioned new singers to replace Plant on tour.

Meanwhile, guitarist Page was last seen performing Led Zeppelin's classic Whole Lotta Love with pop star Leona Lewis during the closing ceremony of the Beijing Olympics.

Jon Anderson's Response from his MySpace page

Disappointed, and very Disrespected

Disappointed that, with the exception of one phone call from Alan, none of the guys have been in touch since my illness, just to find out how I am doing, and how we will foresee the future for YES. And disappointed that they were not willing to wait till 2009 when I'm fully recovered.

And I feel very disrespected, having spent most of this year creating songs and constant ideas for the band, spending time with Roger Dean creating a stage design, also working with VH1 and Sirius and XM Radio to help promote the welfare of YES.

Getting sick was not "on my radar", and I thank my own angel Janeee and my family for helping me through this difficult time, and the many well wishers, friends and fans alike, for understanding that ''things happen''.

Of course I wish the guys all the best in their 'solo' work, but I just wish this could have been done in a more gentlemanly fashion. After all YES is a precious musical band.

This is not YES on tour...

I send best wishes to one and all,

Jon Anderson

Rock band Yes to tour with replacement singer

Now this is really f***ed up.


WASHINGTON (AP) - The classic rock band Yes, which was forced to cancel their 40th anniversary tour this year due to the illness of its lead singer, has decided to relaunch the tour with an "understudy" - a Yes tribute band singer.

Benoit David, who sings in several Yes tribute bands in Montreal, will replace Jon Anderson on the "In the Present" tour, which kicks of Nov. 4 in Ontario, Canada, according to bassist Chris Squire.

"I think it's all going to work out fine," Squire told The Associated Press on Wednesday. "Of course, realistically, there's an element of risk, but there always is."

Yes, which consists of Squire, Anderson, guitarist Steve Howe and drummer Alan White, scrapped their anniversary tour in June after Anderson suffered acute respiratory failure and was ordered by doctors to rest six months.

Squire found David on the Internet after a friend sent him a YouTube clip of David's tribute band, Close To The Edge. Squire liked what he saw and called David to offer an audition.

"The first thing he said to me was, 'Well, I'm looking around to see where the cameras are in case I'm being punked,'" Squire said.

Yes has taken a page from another classic rock group, Journey, who selected Arnel Pineda, a sound-a-like of old lead singer Steve Perry, to be their singer after the group discovered him singing Journey songs on YouTube. Pineda sang on the group's successful comeback album this year and has also been touring with them.

It's not the first time Yes has had a singer besides Anderson. Trevor Horn sang on the 1980 Yes album "Drama" when Anderson briefly left the band. Squire hopes to work songs from that album into the set for the upcoming tour, plus a few songs he said were not Anderson's favorites to perform live but the rest of the band likes.

"You can't ever really replace Jon Anderson, because he's been such a force in the music business," Squire said. "We look upon his replacement as more of an understudy."

Squire said he is hopeful Anderson will be well enough to do shows next year.

DAVID GILMOUR OUT WITH NEW LIVE ALBUM

You need to go get this one if you are a fan of Pink Floyd and / or David Gilmour. The CD was mastered by Doug Sax and the sound is excellent.

Pink Floyd's David Gilmour is out with his new live CD/DVD set featuring his 2006 concert in Gdansk, Poland. The set, called David Gilmour: Live in Gdansk, highlights the Pink Floyd singer-guitarist's last show during his 2006 On An Island tour.


The gig, which was recorded in front of 50,000 people at the shipyards in Gdansk, Poland, finds Gilmore backed by the Polish Baltic Philharmonic Orchestra featuring a 40-strong string section. He told UPI that he wanted to release it because it was "a great, great show," adding, "It's slightly not representative of all the shows from the tour, but so many of the best (songs) for the album seemed to come from that night, anyway." He added, "So in the end we thought, 'Oh, we'll just do the whole (album) from Gdansk. That's the one we'll do. It'll be great.'"


The album also features one of the last recorded performances of Pink Floyd keyboardist and Gilmour band member Richard Wright, who died earlier this month at age 65.

LED ZEPPELIN SAID TO BE REHEARSING WITH OTHER LEAD VOCALISTS

Rehearsing is one thing. But if they actually go on tour with a different lead singer....this just isn't right. In fact, it is f'ed up.


Is Led Zeppelin planning to reunite without Robert Plant? According to Britain's The Sun, an unnamed source says that Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, and Jason Bonham have been rehearsing at London's Ritz Studios with various stand-in vocalists, while Robert Plant continues to tour with Alison Krauss behind their Grammy Award winning Americana album Raising Sand.


A source close to the Zep rehearsals says, "They've been rehearsing frequently in London and the band is really gelling. There's an American guy who has been standing in for Robert regularly and doing a great job."


Rumors of a world tour have been rampant since the Zeppelin's reunion last December at London's O2 Arena, which was the band's first concert appearance in 19 years.


Last month Bonham revealed the news of the studio sessions with Page and Jones, telling WCSX, "I've been over (to England) a couple of times. I've been working with Jimmy and John Paul and trying to do just do some new material and some writing. I don't know what it will be, but it will be something... At the moment, all I know is I have the great pleasure to go and jam with the two guys and start work on some material."

YES FINDS REPLACEMENT FOR JON ANDERSON ON YOUTUBE

This just sounds wrong to me. I mean are the members of the group that desperate for money that they can't wait awhile until Jon is able to tour again?



Yes has found a temporary replacement for ailing singer Jon Anderson -- on YouTube. Bassist Chris Squire says that a friend sent him a video of Canadian Benoit David from the Yes tribute band Close To The Edge, and he was impressed enough to offer the singer an audition. Squire told the Associated Press, "I think it's all going to work out fine. Of course, realistically, there's an element of risk, but there always is."


The band canceled their 40th anniversary tour in June after Anderson suffered respiratory failure. Doctors ordered him to rest for six months. Squire said, "You can't ever really replace Jon Anderson, because he's been such a force in the music business. We look upon his replacement as more of an understudy." He added that he's hopeful Anderson can return next year.


Yes kicks off their In The Present tour in Ontario on November 4th. Squire will be joined by guitarist Steve Howe, drummer Alan White and keyboardist Oliver Wakeman who's the son of legendary Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman.

Pink Floyd founder Richard Wright dies at 65

All I can say is "Shine on".



LONDON (Reuters) - Pink Floyd keyboard player and founding member Richard Wright died on Monday after a short battle with cancer, his spokesman said. He was 65.

Wright, singer, songwriter and guitarist Syd Barrett, guitarist Roger Waters and drummer Nick Mason founded the band that became Pink Floyd in the 1960s when they were students. Pink Floyd went on to become one of the biggest names in rock.

"The family of Richard Wright, founder member of Pink Floyd, announce with great sadness, that Richard died today after a short struggle with cancer," his spokesman said in a statement.

"The family have asked that their privacy is respected at this difficult time."

Wright co-wrote five songs on "Dark Side of the Moon," which was released in 1973, spent 14 years on the Billboard 200 album chart and is one of the best selling albums ever.

Wright left Pink Floyd after falling out with Waters during sessions for "The Wall." He rejoined the band in 1987.

New Jefferson Starship CD

Out now is the new Jefferson Starship album, called Jefferson's Tree Of Liberty. The album includes 19 cover songs from Irish, American, and Latin-American traditions. Highlights on the collection include such 1960's protest songs as Phil Ochs's "I Ain't Marching Anymore" and Bob Dylan's "Chimes Of Freedom."

Although the only longtime members still fronting Jefferson Starship are Paul Kantner and David Freiberg, former bandmates Grace Slick, Marty Balin, and Jack Cassidy also make appearances on the set.

LINDSEY BUCKINGHAM KEPT FLEETWOOD MAC AT BAY TO RELAUNCH SOLO CAREER

Lindsey Buckingham says that he had to make a concerted effort to set aside an extended period away from Fleetwood Mac to finally get his solo career back on track. Buckingham releases his fifth solo studio set, called Gift Of Screws, on September 16th. After a 14-year wait between albums, he amazed longtime fans by embarking on a solo concert tour, releasing two studio albums, and a live CD/DVD collection -- all within two years.

Buckingham says that setting aside time to create and complete his new music had to take priority over Fleetwood Mac for a while: "I think I accomplished that by putting boundary around a three year period in which I told Fleetwood Mac to not come knocking on my door. And it kind of allowed me to formulate a game plan and to follow through on it -- which hasn't always been the case. There has been, certainly a history of what might have been called 'interventions' on what my attentions might have been. So yeah, I'm very happy we got this done."

Lindsey Buckingham tour dates (subject to change):
September 7 - Saratoga, CA - The Mountain Winery
September 9 - Seattle, WA - Moore Theatre
September 10 - Portland, OR - Newmark Theatre
September 12 - Stateline, NV - Harrah's Lake Tahoe
September 13 - San Francisco, CA - TBA
September 14 - Los Angeles, CA - Royce Hall Auditorium
September 16 - San Diego, CA - Humphrey's Concerts By The Bay
September 18 - Phoenix, AZ - Orpheum Theatre
September 19 - Anaheim, CA - Grove Of Anaheim
September 20 - Las Vegas, NV - The Joint
September 22 - Salt Lake City, UT - The Depot
September 24 - Denver, CO - Ellie Caulkins Opera House
September 26 - Tulsa, OK - The Brady Theater
September 28 - Kansas City, MO - Uptown Theater
September 29 - Saint Louis, MO - The Pageant
October 1 - Cleveland, OH - House Of Blues
October 2 - Chicago, IL - House Of Blues
October 4 - Milwaukee, WI - Pabst Theater
October 5 - Indianapolis, IN - Murat Egyptian Room
October 7 - Hamilton, ON - Hamilton Place Theatre - Tickets
October 8 - Toronto, ONT - Music Hall Theatre
October 10 - Reading, PA - Sovereign Performing Arts Center
October 11 - Atlantic City, NJ - Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort
October 14 - Northampton, MA - Calvin Theater
October 15 - Ridgefield, CT - Ridgefield Playhouse
October 17 - Boston, MA - Berklee Performance Center
October 18 - Glenside, PA - Keswick Theatre
October 19 - New York, NY - Nokia Theatre Times Square

Earlier this year Buckingham released the live CD/DVD, Live At The Bass Performance Hall featuring highlights from his 2006 set Under The Skin, along with such solo favorites as "Trouble," "Go Insane," and "Holiday Road," as well as Buckingham's Fleetwood Mac classics "Big Love," "Second Hand News," "Tusk," "Never Going Back Again," "I Know I'm Not Wrong," and "Go Your Own Way."