O2 Reunion Show DVD Coming at "Tectonic Plate Speed."

In his latest edition of the ubiquitous Led Zeppelin fanzine, Tight But Loose, Dave Lewis interviews John Paul Jones. He asks the most important question on the Led Zeppelin fans minds (besides when are you playing together again?, which, kudos to him, Lewis manages to avoid asking). When asked what is happening on the release of a DVD  (and BlueRay obviously) of the O2 reunion show, Jones said:

...things move at a tectonic plate speed in the Zeppelin camp.

As a follow up, Lewis asks, "So you can see it happening?"

I could have... I'm not sure... I think it will but obviously it's not just down to me, there are two others to consider. Let's hope it does.

This answer tells us a couple of things. The DVD is being held up by a member of Zeppelin, or his camp, not called John Paul Jones. And by "two others," we can presume Jones doesn't mean Jason Bonham.

As for a post O2 reunion tour, and the three instrumentalists in the band playing together, Jones had this to say:

I did rehearsals with Jimmy and Jason and I think we all thought it could be a goer. In the end we couldn't really find a singer we could all agree on and it fizzled out...

As for Them Crooked Vultures, Jones saw himself playing with Josh Homme and Dave Grohl again, but not in the near future:

...it's probably way ahead but yes I could see it coming together again.

It's an excellent overall interview with the Zeppelin bassist that covers everything from his equipment to his opera.

If you don't subscribe to Tight But Loose, I can't recommend it enough. However, if you would rather check it out first, issue 32 is available as a one off purchase from Tight But Loose:

http://www.tightbutloose.co.uk/tblweb09/?page_id=14475

I'll have a full review of the entire edition in the next few days, but at halfway through, it is excellent. Click on the link and buy now.

Happy Birthday John Paul Jones

The last couple of years I have wished John Paul Jones a happy birthday, and a year full of music and friends, both old and new - prefereably music with old friends. On Boxing day a report emerged that Them Crooked Vultures are back in the studio recording their second album, and I must say I'll gladly take music with new friends.

Either way, happy 66th birthday John Paul Jones.

Them Crooked Grammy's

Them Crooked Vultures, featuring Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones, drummer Dave Grohl and guitarist/singer Josh Homme, have won a Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance for the song New Fang. The Grammy was awarded during non-broadcast portion of the awards.



In other non-broadcast Grammy awards, Robert Plant and the Band of Joy were shut out on their bid for a Grammy. The Band of Joy was nominated for two Grammy’s: Best Americana Album, which was won by Mavis Staples for You Are not Alone; Best Solo Rock Performance, which was won for Helter Skelter from Good Evening New York City.



In other awards, former Yardbird and childhood friend of Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck won three Grammy’s, Best Pop Collaboration; Best Pop Instrumental Performance; Best Rock Instrumental Performance.

Robert Plant’s band mate in Band of Joy, Patty Griffin, won a Grammy for Best Tradition Gospel Album for Down Town Church. T-Bone Burnett, who produced Plant’s Grammy winning album with Alison Krauss, Raising Sand, also won a non-broadcast Grammy for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture for The Weary Kind from Crazy Heart.

Happy 65th Birthday...

John Paul Jones

Retirement age comes but once a lifetime, and John Paul Jones has hit the official age of retirement. Music fans worldwide can only hope he doesn't take the hint of age, and continues working.

Whether with Led Zeppelin, as a solo artist or with Them Crooked Vultures, Jones has proven to be a rhythm section tour de force. May he continue to be so.

The last couple of birthdays, I have wished Jones a year traveling with old friends. Last year, it was modified to friends, old and new. This year, let me modify it again, and wish John Paul Jones a year of music, of friends, health and happiness.

Happy 65th Birthday John Paul Jones.

And the Nominees Are

The Grammy Awards tonight announced their 2011 nominees during a televised concert. Led Zeppelin members record three nominations this year, two to Robert Plant, and one to John Paul Jones’ band Them Crooked Vultures.

Robert Plant:
Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance
(For a solo vocal performance. Singles or Tracks only)
Silver Rider
from: Band Of Joy

Best Americana Album
(Vocal or Instrumental)
Band Of Joy

John Paul Jones:

Best Hard Rock Performance
(For solo, duo, group or collaborative performances, with vocals.
Singles or Tracks only.)
New Fang
Them Crooked Vultures
from: Them Crooked Vultures

Plant won five Grammy’s in 2009, including album and record of the year, for his collaboration with Alison Krauss, Raising Sand.

Previously, he won a Grammy in 1998, with Jimmy Page, for the song Most High, from the Walking Into Clarksdale CD

As near as I can determine, this is John Paul Jones first Grammy nomination, although he has previously conducted a 20 piece orchestra that performed with the Foo Fighters in 2008.

The 53rd annual Grammy Awards will take place on February 13th.

Them Crooked Vultures for RockBand 3

Them Crooked Vultures may be scattered to the winds, each off doing their day jobs, but that doesn’t mean you won’t be hearing from them. This is especially true if you have a RockBand player in the house.

The newest version of the hit video game includes the song Dead End Friends by Them Crooked Vultures. The new game will come with a keyboard for the first time and more songs from the classic rock era. Dead End Friends is available in X Box 360, Playstation 3 and Wii versions of the game.

Dead End Friends joins .New Fang, which was made available for RockBand last December

More Crooked Vultures

When Them Crooked Vultures finished their string of shows last summer, it seemed like the supergroup may have run it's course.

Dave Grohl was heading back into the Foo Fighters fold: reports emerged they were back in the studio and some July 2011 UK dates have already been announced. Allowing for the difficulty in matching schedules of three highly successful musicians, Them Crooked Vultures looked like it may have run it's course.

Not so, says John Paul Jones:

He [John Paul Jones] says the group is already in the planning stages for a new album

"Some stuff we've worked on, but we're gonna write pretty quickly and just put it down," he said. "We may be a year or so."

He said the new set "will mainly be excess material from the first album".

On a side note, Jones also suggested he may join the Foo Fighters on stage at one of their London concerts in July. But unlike 411mania, I don't see that as the real story.

More Crooked Vultures, that's the real story.

Led Zeppelin on Twitter

The question came up last week on FBO, who do you follow on twitter for Led Zeppelin news?

Here are a few, which I will also add to the sidebar:

Start with the lists:

http://twitter.com/ECrefugee/led
Led Zeppelin Tweets

The artists themselves:
Jason Bonham
Black Country Communion
Them Crooked Vultures

Webpages:
Lemon Squeezings (Steve Sauer)
Achilles Last Stand
Led Zeppelin Examiner
Manic Nirvana (Robert Plant Site)
Robert Plant Homepage (Fan Site)
The Year of Led Zeppelin
ZepFest 2011

Related

Foo Fighters
Joe Bonamassa
Glenn Hughes

Review: Tight But Loose

In June, I had the opportunity to receive a courtesy copy of the latest edition of Dave Lewis’s legendary Led Zeppelin fanzine, Tight But Loose (TBL). Dave has changed up TBL for the 26th issue with a redesign and a full colour look.

Sometimes life brings the smallest pleasures, and it was so with my TBL before I even opened the envelope. On the envelope itself there was four of the Royal Mail album cover stamps. I had a relation send me a set of these, so I recognized them immediately, but it’s nice to have some proper ones, that have been enveloped and post marked. So there I was sitting looking at the envelope, complete with London Calling, Ziggy Stardust, Tubular Bells and Led Zeppelin 4 (he even got my favourites of the albums), enjoying TBL before I even opened it.

You know when you love the envelope, inside is going to be a treat. So it was with TBL. For the Zeppelin addict, it is a 32 page treasure trove of information and, most impressive, newspaper clippings. Besides a Led Zeppelin knowledge base that’s second to none, Lewis appears to have a phenomenal collection of Led Zeppelin articles, reviews and clippings. The magazine is littered with scans from old newspapers, and each story is better for them.

From an information standpoint, TBL misses nothing. The feature story on this edition was a review of Zeppelin’s live appearances in 1970 (part 1). But it has reviews of Them Crooked Vulture concerts, interviews with a trio of former Robert Plant guitarists (none of them called Jimmy Page or Robbie Blunt unfortunately - my two favourite RP sidemen), an interview with NME’s Nick Kent and very early mentions of Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Experience and Black Country Communion - who were still sorting out their name at the time of publication.

Lewis has a statement in the Editorial:

…web sites are for browsing, the TBL magazine is for reading again and again.

He’s right, and in second reading this week, the most interesting article was an interview with BCC singer/bassist Glenn Hughes. When I first read the interview in June, Black Country Communion were barely a story, there were even rumours of a rift within’ the band before it had even started. Since then, they have an album, a release date, and a song available. They are a going concern, and the Led Zeppelin fan who’s getting excited about the upcoming CD will find the interview excellent.





I want to thank Dave Lewis for the preview edition of Tight But Loose, which I loved. So much so that I bought a subscription for the next two editions, and am looking forward to receiving #27 in the next couple of weeks. And Dave, I hope you made a note of which stamps I already have (although I can never have too many Zeppelin IV stamps).

Independent Record Store Day

Saturday April 17 was Independent Record Store Day. Many artists contributed material to be sold exclusively in participating stores, including Them Crooked Vultures. Them Vultures contributed a special 10" picture disc with Mind Eraser, No Chaser from the Them Crooked Vultures LP, and a new, live track, Hwy 1 on side A. Side B is an interview with Liam Lynch. Here's some pictures of the disc in question:



The disc came in a red plastic, semi-transparent envelope. Notice the sticker on the top left corner.



 The last line, left of the bar code, is the logo for Record Store Day. Here's the disc, front



and back



Pity Jimmy Page, who has suggested he has new material to release this year, didn't put up a tease for Record Store Day. Guess a cool picture disc will have to do.

CD Review: Them Crooked Vultures

When reviewing a new band made up of established musicians, the temptation is to search for comparisons to past works, to evaluate the new based on the old. Sometimes it bears fruit, Chickenfoot is, after all, nothing but another bad Joe Satriani album, admittedly with vocals. Upon listening to Them Crooked Vultures debut release, the comparisons are begging to be searched out, but the search bears little fruit.

Them Crooked Vultures line-up consists of three significant artists in slightly different areas of rock: Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones; Foo Fighters front man/Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl on drums; Queens of the Stone Age guitarist/singer Josh Homme fronting the band. The result is heavy, pounding rock that hints at the bands roots without ever stealing from them.

During the pre-release live shows Them Crooked Vultures have performed, drummer Grohl has aped his Foo Fighter drummer Tyler Hawkins, with a drumming style that can best be described as bombarding. Constantly in motion, the drumming doesn’t let up. On recording, however, Grohl displays a much more restrained drum style, preferring to stick with the groove, and let the song shine. It is both effective and enhances the music. On the other hand a band fronted by the singer/guitarist from one band is bound to have similarities between the bands. This happens less frequently than you would expect with Queens of the Stone Age/Crooked Vultures front man Homme. Of course it has hints of Queens, as lead singer that’s inevitable. But the risk is always that such a band as Them Crooked Vultures will be an extension of what the front man has always done, and the risk has been nicely avoided here.

Another risk posed by this grouping is that Them Crooked Vultures would become karaoke Led Zeppelin, with Homme having a perennial turn at the microphone. Dave Grohl is an avowed John Bonham fan, and teaming him up on drums with Bonhams rhythm mate Jones, the risk is real that Homme would be playing guitar and singing over an unmistakably Zeppelin back beat. This rap is, too, nicely avoided. Sure, Jones pulls out the clavinet and vamps Trampled Underfoot during Scumbag Blues, the effect is, however, subtle and in the background. In fact, the song borrows far more from Cream than any other known influence. Jones really noticeable creative contribution to this effort is in the arrangement. The songs, almost without fail, twist and turn, bridges with no connection to the song, Codas from left field, time changes, all staples of the Led Zeppelin catalogue, and common through this disk.

If we’re comparing Them Crooked Vultures to Led Zeppelin, however, it should also be noted to the negative that what Them Crooked Vultures lacks is some of Jimmy Page’s famous, “light and shade.” There are few respites from the very heavy, grinding hard edges rock music. No ballads, no light spots outside of psychedelic 60’s tinged Interlude with Ludes, that sounds like a reject from Jones days producing Sunshine Superman, a brass band coda on Mind Eraser no Chaser, a Bontemi Organ ending to Caligulove, and the piano intro to Spinning in Daffodils. The otherwise lack of breathing space may be the bands weakest spot.

It’s strength? The songs. A constant array of solid blues based rockers, including the opening single, the eminently catchy New Fang, No One Loves Me and Neither Do I, The Bowie meets Hendrix Mind Eraser, No Chaser, Elephants, Bandoliers and the aforementioned Scumbag Blues. All superior songs that more than compensate for a few weaker numbers towards disks end.

Being a fan of earlier rock and roll, I like to play a game with new CDs that come out. I trim the song line-up down to 8 or 9 songs - 40-45 minutes of music - as an LP would have been in the 70’s. It offers a fairer comparison between a newer CD and an older album, where much of the excess that makes it to a CD would get cut in mastering. Here’s what I get

Side one

No One Loves Me
Mind Eraser No Chaser
New Fang
Elephants
Caligulove

Side Two

Scumbag Blues
Bandoliers
Warsaw or The First Breath You Take

That’s an album that belongs in my collection. Two sides of great music that blend together into a nice whole. A great album. As it is, Them Crooked Vultures is one of the best albums in a long time, strong songs played with extremely high musicianship in an album of unapologetic rock. What more where you looking for?

Mind Eraser No Chaser Free on iTunes

Them Crooked Vultures, who's debut album is due for release Nov 16 release her in North America, have made the albums second single, Mind Eraser, No Chaser available for free download on iTunes. This offer is available until Monday November 9th.


While you are there, the first single, New Fang, is available for $1.29, and the album can be pre-ordered for $11.99.



As well, the album, in CD or vinyl format, can be pre-ordered from Amazon

Them Crooked Vultures: Sound Academy Toronto

Them Crooked Vultures, Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones, Foo Fighter's/Nirvana's Dave Grohl, Queen of a Stones Age's Josh Homme, and Alain Johannes, stepped on the Sound Academy stage in Toronto without fanfare or introduction, and spent an hour and a half blowing the roof off the place. Loud, tight and played at a pace that can rightfully be described as frantic, Them Crooked Vultures didn't let up from beginning to end.

The show began with Elephants, shifting time signatures throughout, Them Crooked Vultures announced immediately they weren't just another band. John Paul Jones stepped out with an 8 string bass, but didn't stay with it long as he changed instruments with every song: the 8 string, a regular bass, a slide bass, a keytar, piano, and a baritone jogamathingy, complete with skyward facing strings and built in TV set (lest he miss his favorite soccer team?).

Jones played  with a relaxed calm that belied the thunderous power emanating from himself and his band-mates. Looking at his ease and enjoying himself, Jones even stepped to the microphone for a call and response type verse. His piano solo was shorter than fans of his earlier work are used to, but satisfactorily familiar for that. I couldn't help but wonder if he would call his new piano solo two-bits, as his ex-band mates had stolen no quarter from him in an earlier incarnation.

Unlike Jones' calm detached concentration, drummer Dave Grohl was channeling the Muppets Animal: head bobbing, hair flying, sticks pounding in a frantic blast of timekeeping. Unfortunately, Grohl eschewed a drum riser (or at lease a riser of any significance), making him virtually invisible over heads in the packed house. That aside, his playing was top notch, showing no signs of rust for having spent the past ten years fronting the Foo Fighters instead of drumming.  It's not easy to keep in drummer shape, but Grohl kept it up for the full set, with no breath catching ballads to be found. Alain Johannes filled out the rhythm section with solid guitar duties, as well as playing bass when Jones' played his horizontal slide TV.

As a guitar player I can say with authority it would be a dream to play in front of such a rhythm section, but at the end of the day, Them Crooked Vultures are a Josh Homme vehicle as much as anything else. He fronts the band, he sings, he plays lead guitar. However, Homme's vocal was lower in the mix than is usual, and the vocals got lost in the thunderclap rhythm section. Technical nit-pickery aside, Them Crooked Vultures blew away a jam packed house at The Sound Academy, a startling achievement considering none of the music is available for public consumption as of yet.

Setlist (from setlist.fm)

1. Elephants


2. Dead End Friends


3. Scumbag Blues


4. Gunman


5. Caligulove


6. New Fang


7. Bandoliers


8. Interlude w/ ludes


9. Reptiles


10. Daffodils


11. Mind Eraser


12. Nobody Loves Me


13. Warsaw

***************

Notes

No introduction necessary: Singer Homme introduced Dave Grohl and Alain Johannes, but when it came to Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones, he merely pointed to Jones side of the stage before the crowd roared in approval. Despite the lack of formal introduction, by evenings end chants of "John Paul Jones, John Paul Jones..." could be heard between songs.

The very strict no camera policy seen at some TCV shows seemed to relax on this evening, possibly because the size of the crowd made any form of enforcement impossible. That said, heavy use of back lighting by the band made taking decent pictures a challenge.

A variety of t-shirts, as well as a touque style hat was available for sale.

Them Crooked Vultures Tour

Them Crooked Vultures inaugural tour begins in Austin Texas on October 1st, and carries across America for 9 dates in 14 days.  Here are the dates:

October 1st Austin, TX - Stubb's
October 2nd Austin, TX - Austin City Limits Festival
October 5th Nashville, TN - War Memorial
October 6th Columbus, OH - LC Pavilion
October 8th Detroit, MI - The Fillmore
October 9th Toronto, Ontario - The Sound Academy
October 11th Boston, MA - House of Blues
October 12th Philadelphia, PA - The Electric Factory
October 14th Washington, DC - 930 Club

Tickets are on sale now for all shows, although some appear sold out.

Ramble On will be at the Toronto show so a full report will be forthcoming.

After the North American Fall Tour, the band will begin a UK Winter Tour in December with 7 shows in 8 days:

December 10th Plymouth, England - Pavilions
December 11th Portsmouth, England - Guildhall
December 13th Blackpool, England - Empress Ballroom
December 14th Birmingham, England - O2 Academy
December 15th Edinburgh, Scotland - O2 Academy
December 12th-17th London, England - HMV Hammersmith Apollo

Them Crooked Vultures

John Paul Jones new vehicle, Them Crooked Vultures, with Dave Grohl and Josh Homme, debuted at a midnight show at Chicago's Metro. The show was at the lollapalooza after show concert. Reviews are coming in, and they are strong.

For the best information, head to Lemon Squeezings where Steve has an a comprehensive running post on the show.  The Chicago Tribune has the first Them Crooked Vultures review:

[caption id="attachment_130" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Them Crooked Vultures at The Metro"][/caption]

The term “super group” gets thrown around way too often in rock, but in the case of Them Crooked Vultures, it applies...

...the music has been a mystery; none of the tracks has leaked on the Internet, and the group’s future plans are shrouded in secrecy. After debuting a dozen songs at Metro, the group made it very clear that it’s not only for real, but also has the chance to be the exception to the super-group rule... Crooked Vultures sounded like it was on to something fresh, invigorating and just plain nasty...

History tells us that super groups usually don’t last very long. But at least this particular one is off to a rousing start.

The full twelve song set list is also being reported:

Elephants
New Fang
Scumbag Blues
Dead End Friends
Bandoliers
Mind Eraser
Gunman
Daffodils
Interlude w/ Ludes
Caligulove
Warsaw
Nobodys Loves Me

The blog Hightower and Jones where even more ebullient about the debut:

Three words: Them Crooked Vultures. Five additional words: are the greatest band ever. On August 10, the Metro was sold out, the house lights went down, the audence screamed and Them Crooked Vultures made their debut. To call it the greatest debut ever is like calling Kareem Abdul-Jabbar a mere center or Bruce Lee a simple martial artist. To call it promising would severely downplay the talent of the band's members and the songs that spanned their 77 minute debut.

Holy cow! But tell us how you really felt.

Wyatt, the ZepCowboy, has some images of  merchandise, specifically the poster.



Also on sale was a t-shirt, which is also available online at the  Them Crooked Vultures merchandise store.



The trio also have an album scheduled for October 23rd release, titled according to rumour, "Never Deserved the Future."