When the Black Crowes and Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page take the stage for "A Rock and Roll Evening" in New York and Los Angeles in October (allstar, Aug. 26), it will undeniably be a defining moment in rock history, but don't expect the usual amount of post-gig album releases and commemorative merchandise.
"There is no pressure, that's what cool about it," remarks Black Crowes frontman Chris Robinson. "Today's music business is so chock full of calculated things and things that would revolve around an album and a tour and a VH1 special. We're just doing it for music's sake. But maybe that's not so cool, maybe we should fucking whore it out. But to me, that's what is gonna make it something from the summer that I'll never forget. Rock and roll for rock and roll's sake."
Sparked by a one-off benefit gig in London in June (allstar, June 28), the Crowes and Page will bring "A Rock N' Roll Evening" to the Roseland Ballroom in New York City on Oct. 12-14 and the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles on Oct. 18-19. Expect the shows to last between two and two-and-a-half hours each, according to Robinson, and in addition to a host of Zeppelin, a few Crowes' tunes, and covers of Fleetwood Mac's "Oh Well" and B.B. King's "Woke Up This Morning," the Crowes and Page are currently learning Otis Redding's "Ole Man Trouble," Chuck Berry's "Ain't That Just Like A Woman," and Jimmy Reed's "I Ain't Got You" for possible inclusion in the set.
"It's going to be heavier on the Zeppelin side, a few selected Black Crowes numbers and then cover tunes," says Robinson. "That's the thing, when you have Rich [Robinson], Jimmy [Page], and Audley [Freed], it's like 'Let 'em go!' So I think playing blues and some R&B numbers is part of it too and letting the guitar players do their thing. As the lead singer, I'll let them do that."
As for singing lead on some of Led Zeppelin's biggest tunes, Robnison is quick to point out he will not be mimicking Robert Plant but rather placing his own vocal stamp on the songs. "It's not just a Zeppelin thing, we bring the way we play to it also," he says. "We stick to the meat of the matter but I just have a different sort of [singing] style. Mine is more like if Tina Tuner was in Led Zeppelin."
But at the same time, he's still a bit star stuck.
"It really is cool to have someone as illustrious as Mr. Page enjoy playing with us," Robinson says. "When we played in London, everyone had a big smile on their face the whole time. It's is totally fucking awesome."
Meanwhile, the Crowes have written around nine tunes for their next record, the follow-up this year's By Your Side (Columbia), including "Bled To Death" and "Cypress Tree." The band hopes to begin rehearsing the songs in January and hit a studio in February. According to Robnison, the album will be decidedly heavier than By Your Side, although the singer just can't seem to figure out from where that change was spawned. "As far as our new songs, we're already in a another place again compared to the last one," he says. "It seems much darker and sort of heavy -- maybe cause we've been playing with Jimmy, I don't know. Heavy guitars? I wonder where that came from?"
