Robert Plant and the Band of Joy are already touring North America this spring, but they will be on the road again with a handful of concert dates in the summer of 2011. Robert Plant tickets will be available for what appears to be an excuse to attend summer festivals for free. The summer leg of the 2011 tour begins on June 8, 2011 at the Copley Symphony Hall and ends on June 25, 2011 in Atlantic City, NJ at Borgata Event Center. In between Plant and the Joy will be attending Bonnaroo Music Festival, the Ravinia Festival, Telluride Bluegrass Festival, the Ottawa Jazz Festival, and Montreal Jazz Festival.
Plant's reputation as a dynamic vocalist and frontman was forged as a member of this highly influential unit, but he began plans for a renewed solo career following the death of John Bonham in 1980. Pictures At Eleven unveiled a new partnership with Robbie Blunt (guitar), Paul Martinez (bass) and Jezz Woodroffe (keyboards) and while invoking the singer's past, also showed him open to new musical directions. The Principle Of Moments contained the restrained transatlantic Top 20 hit, "Big Log", and inspired an ambitious world tour. Plant then acknowledged vintage R&B in the Honeydrippers, an ad hoc group that featured Page, Jeff Beck and Nile Rodgers, whose 1984 mini-album spawned a US Top 5 hit in "Sea Of Love'. Having expressed a desire to record less conventional music, Plant fashioned Shaken 'N" Stirred, which divided critics who either praised its ambition or declared it too obtuse. The singer then disbanded his group, but resumed recording in 1987 on becoming acquainted with a younger pool of musicians, including Phil Johnstone, Chris Blackwell and Phil Scragg. Now And Zen was hailed as a dramatic return to form and a regenerated Plant felt confident enough to include Led Zeppelin material in live shows. Indeed, one of the album's stand-out tracks, "Tall Cool One", featured a cameo from Jimmy Page and incorporated samples of "Black Dog", "Whole Lotta Love" and "The Ocean", drawn from their former band's extensive catalogue.
The singer's artistic rejuvenation continued on Manic Nirvana and the excellent Fate Of Nations, before again joining up with Jimmy Page in the mid-90s for the No Quarter and Walking Into Clarksdale projects, satisfying those who would never have the vocalist forget his past. In complete contrast, in 1999 Plant formed the folk-rock quintet Priory Of Brion with former Band Of Joy band mate Kevyn Gammon. The band toured small venues and clubs throughout the UK and several European countries performing cover versions of their favorite songs. In 2001, Plant began touring larger venues with his new band, Strange Sensation. He released his first solo album in almost ten years, Dreamland, the following June. On this Plant performed material by a number of his longtime heroes and influences. Among those celebrated were Bob Dylan ("One More Cup Of Coffee"), Alexander "Skip" Spence ("Skip's Song", which is a revised version of Moby Grape's epic "Seeing"), Tim Buckley ("Song To The Siren") and Tim Rose ("Morning Dew").
After Led Zeppelin grounded its blimp in 1980, Robert Plant could have taken the easy stairway to continued stardom, but he has continued to take chances that have paid off -- much like Scientology texts, his solo albums have consistently, if quietly, sold quite well. The orgiastic blues screech that Plant perfected for a generation of operatic Metal belters seems to have taken a toll on his voice; as a result, he now sings more and wails less. The Principle of Moments (1983) is his most integrated effort, but Fate of Nations (1993) saw Plant gracefully carrying folky protest signs. He is now back with old band mate Jimmy Page, but some wish he would have maintained the Honeydrippers -- a sophisticated 1950s rock side project -- going. This one-off 1984 EP saw Plant paying homage to his heroes and proving that the latest crop of swing revivalists are really just rock 'n' rollers at heart.
