Robert Plant and the Sensational Space Shifters kick off their spring and summer tour at the Sasquatch! Festival in George, WA, this Sunday. The North American dates include a return to Bonnaroo and finish off at the Mann Center in Philadelphia on June 17. Tickets to the non-festival shows in North America include a CD of the band’s latest album, lullaby and… The Ceaseless Roar. The Pixies will open five of the shows, and JD McPherson five, as noted below. The UK and European leg of the tour begins July 10 and runs into August. See below for all of the currently announced dates; for additional details, visit nonesuch.com/on-tour.
The tour is in support of Robert Plant’s lullaby and… The Ceaseless Roar, which was released September 2014 on Nonesuch/Warner Bros. Records. The record was named one of the top 50 albums of the year by NPR, which said, “At 66, the singer is still a majestic rock presence, at peace with the legacy of his hard-rock-defining band Led Zeppelin, while remaining relentlessly creative in his solo work. But on his 10th solo album, Plant does pause by those waters to consider the aesthetic, emotional and spiritual currents that have shaped his illustrious life. He finds himself, characteristically, not saddened but renewed… Not one of these songs sounds precisely like its source; that's the genius of this album. It lovingly layers elements in ways that mirror memory, creating new constructs from floating shards of the musical past.”
Plant described lullaby and… The Ceaseless Roar as, “a celebratory record, powerful, gritty, African, Trance meets Zep.” He continues, “The whole impetus of my life as a singer has to be driven by a good brotherhood. I am very lucky to work with the Sensational Space Shifters. They come from exciting areas of contemporary music…” The Sensational Space Shifters are Justin Adams: bendirs, djembe, guitars, tehardant, background vocals; John Baggott: keyboards, loops, moog bass, piano, tabal, background vocals; Juldeh Camara: kologo, ritti, Fulani vocals; Billy Fuller: bass, drum programming, omnichord, upright bass; Dave Smith: drum set; and Liam “Skin” Tyson: banjo, guitar, background vocals.
The album received some of the best reviews of Plant’s solo career, with the Wall Street Journal saying, "Robert Plant knows where rock's past begins and he's pulling it into the future,” and the New York Times stating that “On lullaby and… The Ceaseless Roar, Mr. Plant often sings in an otherworldly voice: sustained, androgynous, balanced between serenity and ache.” Pitchfork noted that “Lullaby sees Plant stepping up with his first batch of original songs in nearly a decade, answering his band’s derring-do with some of the most bravely confessional writing of his career,” while Noisey raved, “Plant’s aged gracefully, growing into a sound that’s more finessed and even, at times, elegant. These aren’t the recordings of some old dude lost in a music studio messing around with the funny-shaped knobs on a mixer. Plant’s still got it, using his experience and vision to blend sounds of the world with blues to form music that’s weirdly cohesive and progressive, all supporting his distinguished and defined voice.”
Nonesuch/Warner Bros. released a Record Store Day EP by Robert Plant and The Sensational Space Shifters in April. Entitled More Roar, the record features three tracks on black 10” vinyl recorded live during the group’s World Tour 2014: Side A will be “Turn It Up” / “Arbaden” and side B will be “Poor Howard” and “Whole Lotta Love (Medley).” A limited number is available in the Nonesuch Store now.
ROBERT PLANT AND THE SENSATIONAL SPACE SHIFTERS ON TOUR
North American Spring Tour
|
* w/JD McPherson ** w/The Pixies |
|
Summer Tour