The clock strikes '12' for Sloan

Canadian band Sloan have unveiled a new song, “The Day Will Be Mine.” The track is released as part of the band’s announcement of their 12th studio album appropriately titled Sloan 12, which is set to release April 6 via Murderecords/Yep Roc Records.

Listen to “The Day Will Be Mine” NOW. Fans can also pre-order the album today HERE.

Sloan are one of the rare bands to make it to their 12th album with all four original members who are equally prolific songwriters. Sloan 12 includes three songs written by each member: Patrick Pentland, Chris Murphy, Jay Ferguson and Andrew Scott.

In comparing their last album Commonwealth (2014) Ferguson says, “That album was more of everyone retreating to corners to produce and sequence a side of their own material, this one would potentially have more collaboration than usual.”

Sloan is a Toronto-based rock band from Halifax, Nova Scotia who first performed in spring of 1991. The band are credited as being a main instigator for the Canadian East Coast alternative scene of the early 90s, garnering comparisons to the Seattle grunge movement on the opposite coast.

Over the course of their quarter-century career, Sloan have amassed an outstanding collection of over 200 songs and more than 30 singles with airplay at Canadian Rock Radio. Sloan have received nine Juno Award nominations, and won for Best Alternative Album in 1997. Recently, the band was named one of Canada’s top five bands of all-time in a CBC critics poll.

Additionally, the band announce an extensive 2018 tour with over 30 dates across North America. 

Tour dates: 

Apr 3 Sudbury, ON Townehouse
Apr 4 Thunder Bay, ON Crocks
Apr 5 Winnipeg, MB The Pyramid
Apr 6 Regina, SK Turvey Centre
Apr 7 Saskatoon, SK Broadway Theatre
Apr 8 Red Deer, AB Bo’s Bar & Grill
Apr 9 Grande Prairie, AB Better Than Fred's
Apr 11 Calgary,AB Marquee Beer Market
Apr 12 Edmonton, AB Starlite Room
Apr 13 Medicine Hat, AB The Silver Buckle
Apr 14 Fernie, AB Fernie Resort
Apr 15 Nelson, BC Spirit Bar
Apr 17 Campbell River, BC Tidemark Theatre
Apr 18 Nanaimo, BC The Port Theatre
Apr 19 Victoria, BC Capital Ballroom
Apr 20 Vancouver, BC Imperial
Apr 21 Portland, OR The Doug Fir
Apr 22 Seattle, WA Columbia City Theater
Apr 24 San Francisco, CA Rickshaw Stop
Apr 25 Los Angeles, CA The Moroccan Lounge
May 3 Halifax, NS Marquee (ECMA festival)
May 5 Portland, ME Empire
May 7 Boston, MA Brighton Music Hall
May 9 Philadelphia, PA Boot & Saddle
May 10 New York, NY Bowery Ballroom
May 11 Washington, DC Rock & Roll Hotel
May 12 Buffalo, NY Iron Works
May 19 Bala, ON Kee to Bala
Jun 19 Cleveland, OH Grog Shop
Jun 20 Detroit, MI St. Andrew’s Hall
Jun 22 St. Louis, MO Blueberry Hill Duck Room
Jun 23 Chicago, IL Bottom Lounge
Jun 24 St. Paul, MN Turf Club
Jun 27 Timmins, ON Stars and Thunder Festival

Sloan 12 - Track listing:

Spin Our Wheels
All Of The Voices
Right To Roam
Gone For Good
The Day Will Be Mine
Essential Services
Don’t Stop (If It Feels Good Do It)
Year Zero
Have Faith
The Lion’s Share
Wish Upon A Satellite
44 Teenagers

REO Speedwagon, Chicago team for summer tour

Two of the most successful and critically acclaimed rock bands REO Speedwagon and Chicago – who have sold 140 million records combined – will co-headline a North American summer tour kicking off in June in Concord, CA.

The tour will take the multi-platinum selling groups through major cities before concluding in August in Detroit.

Tickets for the tour are on sale now in select cities on www.livenation.com. Please see below for full tour itinerary and details.

Says Chicago’s Robert Lamm of the upcoming trek: “It’s always a party sharing the stage with Kevin, Neal, Bruce, Dave and Bryan! They rock. We rock. The tour rocks!”

REO Speedwagon frontman Kevin Cronin agrees: “We love the Chicago guys. We all share that Midwest rock’ n roll ethic. We work hard, rock hard & take care of business. So, c’mon out and party with Chicago and REO this summer.”

Fans will be treated to a night filled with a deep catalog of hits from both bands. Chicago, in planning a show unlike any other they’ve done before, will perform their historic album Chicago II in its entirety followed by the “world’s longest encore” as the band jokingly refers to it, filled with their greatest hits. REO Speedwagon will electrify audiences with hits and fan-favorites such as “In Your Letter,” “Can’t Fight This Feeling,” “Time For Me To Fly,” “Roll With The Changes,” “Keep On Loving You,” “Take It On the Run” and more.

Tour dates:

June 13, 2018
Concord, CA
Concord Pavilion

June 15, 2018
Los Angeles, CA
The Forum

June 16, 2018
Irvine, CA
FivePoint Amphitheatre

June 17, 2018
Phoenix, AZ
Ak-Chin Pavilion

June 19, 2018
Salt Lake City, UT
USANA Amphitheatre

June 20, 2018
Denver, CO
Pepsi Center

June 23, 2018
St. Louis, MO
Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre

June 24, 2018
Chicago, IL
Allstate Arena *on sale March 2

June 26, 2018
Rogers, AR
Walmart AMP

June 27, 2018
Kansas City, MO
Starlight Theatre

June 29, 2018
Dallas, TX
Starplex Pavilion

June 30, 2018
Houston, TX
Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion

July 1, 2018
Austin, TX
Austin360 Amphitheater

July 13, 2018
Nashville, TN
Ascend Amphitheater

July 14, 2018
Atlanta, GA
Verizon Amphitheatre

July 15, 2018
Charlotte, NC
PNC Pavilion

July 17, 2018
Raleigh, NC
Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek

July 18, 2018
Virginia Beach, VA
Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater

July 20, 2018
West Palm Beach, FL
Coral Sky Amphitheatre

July 21, 2018
Tampa, FL
MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre

July 22, 2018
Jacksonville, FL
Daily’s Place

July 25, 2018
Bristow, VA
Jiffy Lube Live

July 27, 2018
Syracuse, NY
Lakeview Amphitheater

July 28, 2018
Pittsburgh, PA
KeyBank Pavilion

July 29, 2018
Holmdel, NJ
PNC Bank Arts Center

July 31, 2018
Saratoga Springs, NY
Saratoga Performing Arts Center

August 1, 2018
Camden, NJ
BB&T Pavilion

August 3, 2018
Wantagh, NY
Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater

August 5, 2018
Boston, MA
Xfinity Center

August 7, 2018
Darien Lake, NY
Darien Lake Amphitheater

August 8, 2018
Toronto, ON
Budweiser Stage

August 10, 2018
Cincinnati, OH
Riverbend Music Center

August 11, 2018
Indianapolis, IN
Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center

August 12, 2018
Detroit, MI
DTE Energy Music Theatre

We Are Scientists enter the 'Megaplex'

photo: Ted Leather

We Are Scientists, the Brooklyn, New York-based power pop troupe, are set to return with their sixth album. It is titled Megaplex and released via 100% Records on April 27 by the duo, Keith Murray (guitar/vocals) and Chris Cain (bass).

“In the past we’ve used our music to educate, to enlighten, to awaken people to the depth and complexity of moral concerns. This time, we really wanted to drop a fun-bomb. Something to dance or f*** to,” states Chris and Megaplex achieves just that. Recorded at Tim Wheeler from Ash’s Atomic Heart Studios in NYC and once again produced by Max Hart (ex-Katy Perry), the duo set about honing down a sprawling burst of creativity to make the concise pop beast that is Megaplex.

Album opener and first single "One In, One Out' introduces fans to a new era of We Are Scientists, with its hook-laden indie-electro leanings and ultramodern visuals directed by Jed Mitchell. “When Jed explained the VR aspect to us,” says Keith, “we thought it was going to be our chance to step outside of our corporeal bondage, to enter a world where natural laws have no place, where our abilities would be unchecked by physics or even by morality, where we could live like gods and wantonly slake our every unholy thirst. Turns out, he just wanted us to perform our song, which was fun, too.”

"At this point in our career, we’ve written so many songs,” explains Keith. “The pool for this record alone was something like 90 songs deep — that we know exactly what we want out of a We Are Scientists record. We want it to be taut, to bang hard, to have a big hook every four seconds or so. We don’t have to be precious about which songs make it onto a record; we can listen to the ones that didn’t make it at home, on our own time. Megaplex is just the ten most delicious songs that we have — a stacked-up compound of entertainment."

"It takes a lot of hard work, a lot of honing of craft to make it to six records,” continues Keith. “ I mean, the Velvet Underground never made six albums. The Smiths didn’t. Pavement, Guns N’ Roses, The Stooges — none of them could do it. So, I guess we’re just objectively better than those bands now? It’s just a mathematical fact, right? Van Halen made six with David Lee Roth but only four with Sammy Hagar, so I guess we’re better than Hagar-era Van Halen but only just as good as Roth-era? Which, saying it out loud, makes total sense, yeah."

“Our brilliant work in pop song writing is unsurpassed,” summarizes Keith. “And will probably make the We Are Scientists name live beyond eternity.”

Track Listing:

One In, One Out
Notes In A Bottle
Heart Is A Weapon
Your Light Has Changed
KIT
No Wait at Five Leaves
Not Another Word
Now or Never
You Failed
Properties of Perception

Tour dates:

June 13 Boston, MA Sonia Friday, Feb. 9 @ 10 AM Local 
June 14 Philadelphia, PA Johnny Brenda's Friday, Feb. 9 @ 10 AM Local 
June 15 Dover, MD Firefly Music Festival Friday, Feb. 9 @ 10 AM Local 
June 16 New York, NY Bowery Ballroom Friday, Feb. 9 @ 12 PM Local 
June 18 Toronto, ON Horseshoe Tavern Friday, Feb. 9 @ 10 AM Local 
June 19 Pittsburgh, PA The Funhouse at Mr. Smalls Friday, Feb. 9 @ 10 AM Local 
June 20 Columbus, OH Rumba Cafe Friday, Feb. 9 @ 10 AM Local 
June 21 Indianapolis, IN The Hi-Fi Friday, Feb. 9 @ 10 AM Local 
June 22 Chicago, IL Empty Bottle Friday, Feb. 9 @ 10 AM Local 
June 23 Cincinnati, OH MOTR Pub Friday, Feb. 9 @ 10 AM Local 
June 25 Richmond, VA The Camel Friday, Feb. 9 @ 10 AM Local 
June 26 Washington, DC Rock & Roll Hotel Friday, Feb. 9 @ 10 AM Local

Bonus Q&A with Howard Jones

photo: Simon Fowler

Howard Jones is currently on tour through North America, with dates running through mid-March. Go to  www.howardjones.com for complete details. Meanwhile, read below for more from my recent interview with Howard Jones from his home in England (the feature story is elsewhere on this blog). 

Q: You’ve always had a large fan base here in the LA area. Would you put that down to the early airplay from KROQ/106.7 FM when “New Song” first came out? 
Absolutely. [DJ] Richard Blade was so supportive and became a really good friend. It was fantastic having that early support. They played my first album with “New Song” and “What is Love?” That laid the foundation for the second album 'Dream Into Action.' It really took off nationally then. It was great. 

Q: I first heard your music from Rock Over London, a syndicated radio show that would air the top 10 singles in Britain over here. 
Oh, yes! I remember doing interviews with them – both in the UK and when I came over to California. It was very important for us. 

Q: Last summer, I caught your headlining performance on the Retro Futura Tour in Costa Mesa, CA. Do you enjoy the camaraderie with other Eighties acts on the bill? 
Yeah, it was great. There were 47 of us on the road, including the crew and everyone. It was a real traveling circus. Really good fun. Towards the end of the tour, people were jumping on stage with each other. I did a duet with Dave Wakeling [of The English Beat]. It was a great way to spend the summer. I did feel a little bit of pressure, headlining it. I really needed to deliver a great show because there were so many great bands on the bill. I was a bit nervous, but it all worked out really well. 

Q: A few years ago, you released the ‘Engage’ multi-media project on CD+DVD via a crowd funding site. What was that process like for you? 
It was an experiment for me to really involve the fans. That worked really well. I did lots of extra stuff like studio days. I composed piano music especially for people over Skype. I stretched things out, tried some new things and it was great. Really good doing it. Loads of bands are doing that now. The great thing is it really links you up to the fans. You feel very responsible about delivering something good. They’re believing in you [enough] to invest in the project and you really got to look after them and deliver something great. I think we did that. 

Q: You also introduced an Engage phone app. What kind of feedback did you get? 
People do turn up with it at the shows. On Retro Futura, we did broadcast from the stage, so it was triggering stuff in their phones if they had the app open. I’m of two minds about it. It’s a really cool app and everything, but people really want to watch and sing. They don’t want to really be having to deal with their phones. Maybe that’s a good thing - that the show is engaging enough. We will continue developing it though. I think there are some really cool things we can do in the future. It’s one of those things that will gain momentum as time goes by. 

Q: With the recent announcement that Ringo Starr will be finally be knighted by the Queen of England, I wondered what it was it like being part of Ringo Starr’s All Starr Band in 2001. 
It was really amazing touring with Ringo. I had such a great time with him. We traveled together, so I had a lot of chances to have conversations with him about The Beatles and the old days. Also, he has such a great philosophy of life now. He said, ‘I really want to stay fit and healthy, so I can live as long as I can and see my grandchildren growing up.’ He was quite inspirational. He used to have me very loud in his monitors. He loves keyboard players. So I was really chuffed about that. 

Q: Did you ever ask him about making certain Beatles albums? 
No, I’m more orientated toward the person, how they think and the struggles in their life. How they overcome them. It was just brilliant. 

Q: Greg Lake was also on that tour. Weren’t you a big ELP fan? 
[Admiringly] Yeah, a huge ELP fan and I got to play “Karn: Evil 9” [the band’s famous half hour composition from 1973’s “Brain Salad Surgery”] with Greg Lake and Sheila E. every night. It was the hardest piece of music I’ve ever had to learn. I had to chop it into two-bar sections and learn two bars at a time. It was amazing to play that. ELP meant so much to me when I was growing up. 

Q: If push comes to shove, which of your studio albums do you think still stand the test of time in 2018? 
Weirdly enough, they’ve all done well. Electronic music is so in vogue at the moment. With those first two albums, I listen to [Netflix series] ‘Stranger Things,’ the first series, and there’s so many references to that sound. I think they stood up well. I’ve got albums that people don’t know so well that I’m really proud of like ‘People’ - it's one of my little pleasures.

Howard Jones interview

photo: David Conn

The mark of a true musician is the ability to command attention during an acoustic performance.

“I always encourage young artists that I’m mentoring [about how] you have to be able to hold a room on your own - without lights, production, a big band, a brass section or an orchestra - if you’re going to go somewhere,” said Howard Jones, in a phone interview from his home in Sommerset, England. “If you’re comfortable with it, then you’ll go far.”

The veteran synth-pop singer/keyboardist is currently doing Solo – The Songs and the Stories, an extensive American tour of smaller-than-usual venues. 

“I like to play in a stripped-down way, with piano and singing, every couple of years,” Jones, 62, said. “I’ve got about 50 songs worked up that I can draw on. It’s the complete opposite of my band shows and really intimate. I talk a lot. I get a chance to show the songwriter side of me. I love it.”

Jones came to prominence during the New Wave era with the jaunty “New Song” in 1983, the first of nine top 20 singles in his native U.K. Two years later, Jones appeared at Live Aid. Here in SoCal, KROQ was an early supporter and multiple top 40 U.S. pop hits including “No One is to Blame,” “Things Can Only Get Better” (from the U.S. platinum seller “Dream Into Action”), “Everlasting Love,” “You Know I Love You…Don’t You?” “What is Love?” and “Lift Me Up,” stretched into the early ‘90s.

Many of the life-affirming tunes were originally composed on piano, so this tour will give fans insight into how they were created.

“I can play them in any sort of style,” said Jones. “Depending on the mood I’m in, I can give them all a bit of a twist if I want. It’s a fabulous freedom to have as a musician.”

In 2015, Jones released “Engage” on CD+DVD via the self-run D-TOX record label.

The unique multi-media project was a way for him to “challenge myself to do something different that combined all different types of music and art forms that I love – classical, film, contemporary dance, ballet. I threw it all into the mix. It was really an ambitious project for me. I was pleased with the result.”

Due to the big production, Jones only played “Engage” a few times in select cities. At several points in the DVD, inspirational quotes by Einstein, Kierkegaard and more stream across a screen behind him.

“It was a thread running through every track,” Jones explained. “I’ve always been very interested in philosophy and in the study of how to live your life in the best way.”

One “Engage” selection, the EDM-leaning “The Human Touch,” has been included in recent live sets and “it always goes down a storm.”

Jones is currently working on a new studio album and so far has completed “five tracks I’m very happy with. I’m doing a collaboration with [electronic act] BT. That’s going very well. I hope we’ll be able to include that.”

Meanwhile, Jones will soon be heard on the soundtrack to the upcoming animated film “Animal Crackers.” He describes the spirited “We’re in This Together” as a “funky track. I was lucky enough to get Michael Buble’s eight-piece horn section on it.”

Hear a sample here: https://youtu.be/2Wv4cnSYE20 

Two years ago, Jones also contributed a song for “Fly – Songs Inspired by the film Eddie the Eagle.”

“I really enjoy working with a director when he points me to a place in the film and says, ‘I really want a song here and it needs to relate to the storyline,’” said the musician.

Last fall, Jones curated a Spotify playlist of old and new favorites. Lately, the streaming service has found him “going back and listening to a whole chunk of an artist’s career and really getting to know it. I discovered that I actually like Van Morrison because of Spotify; Ella Fitzgerald, as well. There’s a new album of her with the London Symphony Orchestra [‘Someone to Watch Over Me’]. They took her voice from the original recordings and did new arrangements. Absolutely exquisite. It’s all about educating oneself and letting go of the prejudices.”

As for the rising popularity of streaming over physical album purchases, Jones believes “if everyone got on board, it would be a great thing for artists because they’d be able to make a decent living, [but] it’s not really sustaining young artists and people in the middle enough to stop people from going to other industries. We really need to sort that out. Otherwise, it’s going to be just catalog. And catalog music is still bigger than new music. That’s terrible. It shouldn’t be that way.”

My article originally appeared in various Southern California News Group publications.

More summer tour news: Kenny Chesney

photo: Allister Ann

Kenny Chesney usually plays large venues, but finds there is an intimacy that comes with amphitheater shows that offer an equally important experience his fans, known as the No Shoes Nation, demands.

“Nothing’s like the energy of a stadium show,” Chesney admits, in a press release. “But there’s also something about the amphitheaters, where the people are all so close. It’s like being with your friends somewhere back home, singing songs and hanging out, and having the best party of the year. For us, it feels like the people are so right there, and the songs are driving the night. It’s an experience we know No Shoes Nation loves and misses when we don’t do it, so this year, we’re going to make sure there are plenty of opportunities to see us under the pavilion or out on the lawn.”

His Trip Around the Sun Tour kicks off in April in Tampa, will vary between stadium shows and more streamlined concerts throughout the summer and see Chesney create two very different kinds of concert experiences.

“Part of the fun of mixing the venues is riding the energy, letting the music breathe in different ways and really giving the audience dynamics that are so intense without being the same show across America,” Chesney explains.

“The amphitheaters all have their own vibes, their own attitude – and those experiences shift very specifically. Darling’s Waterfront in Bangor, Maine is one thing; Mountain View, California’s Shoreline Amphitheater is something else altogether, just like the folks in Toronto at the Molson or Austin’s Austin360 Amphitheaters.”

Chesney is returning to a full touring calendar after creating more seats at Boston’s Gillette Stadium – to break the attendance record with 121,624 people over two nights. Energized by the response to Cosmic Hallelujah, The Big Revival, and the hits “American Kids,” “Noise,” “Save It for a Rainy Day” and “All the Pretty Girls,” the 8-time Entertainer of the Year is fired up and focused.

“I feel like this summer, we’re going to take those songs on Live in No Shoes Nation, and lift them even higher,” Chesney says. “Listening to it over and over, hearing everyone’s voices raised… It’s what makes coming out to see us special! When you get to hear all that heart, all that fun, and life, and love coming towards the stage, it really takes our breath away. So, get ready America: we’re coming! Stadiums, amphitheaters, and a whole lot of music.”

Keeping the focus on songwriting and crowd-pleasing, Chesney tapped Old Dominion, the 2015 Academy of Country Music New Vocal Duo or Group of the Year winners, for his amphitheater evenings.

Blue Chair Bay Rum is the exclusive sponsor of this year’s Trip Around The Sun Tour. Blue Chair Bay Rum is inspired by the Kenny Chesney’s lifestyle and comes in the following natural flavors: White Rum, Coconut, Coconut Spiced, Banana, Vanilla, Key Lime Rum Cream, Banana Rum Cream and Coconut Spiced Rum Cream.

Tour dates:

Friday, March 16 -- Las Vegas, Nevada, The Joint
Saturday, March 17 – Las Vegas, Nevada, The Joint
Saturday, April 21, Tampa, Florida, Raymond James Stadium
Saturday, April 28, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Miller Park
Saturday, May 5, Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. Bank Stadium
Thursday, May 10, Virginia Beach, Virginia, Farm Bureau Live at Virginia Beach
Friday, May 11, Charlotte, North Carolina, PNC Music Pavilion
Saturday, May 12, Raleigh, North Carolina, Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek
Wednesday, May 16, Del Valle, Texas, Austin360 Amphitheater
Thursday, May 17, The Woodlands, Texas, Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
Saturday, May 19, Arlington, Texas, AT&T Stadium
Thursday, May 24, West Palm Beach, Florida, Coral Sky Amphitheatre
Saturday, May 26, Atlanta, Georgia, Mercedes-Benz Stadium
Thursday, May 31, Noblesville, Indiana, The Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center
Saturday, June 2, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Heinz Field
Wednesday, June 6, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, Blossom Music Center
Thursday, June 7, Syracuse, New York, Lakeview Amphitheater
Saturday, June 9, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Lincoln Financial Field
Friday, June 15, Bristow, Virginia, Jiffy Lube Live
Saturday, June 16, Columbus, Ohio, MAPFRE Stadium
Wednesday, June 20, Mountain View, California, Shoreline Amphitheatre
Thursday, June 21, Chula Vista, California, Mattress Firm Amphitheatre
Saturday, June 23, Phoenix, Arizona, Chase Field
Thursday, June 28, West Valley City, Utah, USANA Amphitheatre
Saturday, June 30, Denver, Colorado, Sports Authority Field at Mile High
Tuesday, July 3, Stateline, Nevada, Harveys Lake Tahoe Casino
Thursday, July 5, Nampa, Idaho, Ford Idaho Center
Saturday, July 7, Seattle, Washington, CenturyLink Field
Thursday, July 12, Rogers, Arkansas, Walmart Arkansas Music Pavilion
Saturday, July 14, Kansas City, Missouri, Arrowhead Stadium
Thursday, July 19, Southaven, Mississippi, BankPlus Amphitheater
Saturday, July 21, St. Louis, Missouri, Busch Stadium
Thursday, July 26, Cincinnati, Ohio, Riverbend Music Center
Saturday, July 28, Chicago, Illinois, Soldier Field
Thursday, August 2, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Molson Canadian Amphitheatre
Saturday, August 4, Detroit, Michigan, Ford Field
Saturday, August 11, Nashville, Tennessee, Nissan Stadium
Thursday, August 16, Bangor, Maine, Darling’s Waterfront Pavilion
Saturday, August 18, East Rutherford, New Jersey, MetLife Stadium
Wednesday, August 22, Columbia, Maryland, Merriweather Post Pavilion
Friday, August 24, Foxborough, Massachusetts, Gillette Stadium
Saturday, August 25, Foxborough, Massachusetts, Gillette, Stadium

Jeff Beck, Paul Rodgers, Ann Wilson to do summer tour

Jeff Beck and Paul Rodgers will join forces for the “Stars Align Tour,” their co-headlining summer outing with Ann Wilson of Heart. It kicks off in July in Utah. The full listing of tour dates can be found below.

Tickets will go on sale to the general public beginning Friday, Feb. 2 at 10 AM through LiveNation.com.

 "I always enjoy touring the U.S. in the summer and joining with Paul, and Ann Wilson, should make for quite an exciting night,” said Jeff Beck.

 “This is going to be a knock out combination of music and musicians,” said Paul Rodgers. “I've always been a Jeff Beck fan, who isn't? He is in a league of his own. Ann Wilson has an amazing voice and is a brilliant songwriter. 2018 marks the 50th Anniversary of 'Free' and I hope we can touch your spirit with the 'Spirit of Free.’”

“I am thrilled to have been asked to perform on the Stars Align Tour with Jeff Beck and Paul Rodgers,” said Ann Wilson. “They are both long time favorites of mine! They are masters at their craft and it is an honor to share the stage this summer.”

Tour Dates:

July 18, 2018
West Valley City, UT
USANA Amphitheatre

July 20, 2018
Los Angeles, CA
Five Point Amphitheatre

July 22, 2018
Chula Vista, CA
Mattress Firm Amphitheatre

July 24, 2018
Houston, TX
Smart Financial Centre at Sugar Land

July 25, 2018
Dallas, TX
The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory

July 28, 2018
St. Louis, MO
Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre

July 29, 2018
Chicago, IL
Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island

July 31, 2018
Clarkston, MI
DTE Energy Music Theatre

August 1, 2018
Toronto, ON
Budweiser Stage

August 3, 2018
Boston, MA
Blue Hills Bank Pavilion

August 4, 2018
Camden, NJ
BB&T Pavilion

August 8, 2018
Cincinnati, OH
Riverbend Music Center

August 10, 2018
Indianapolis, IN
Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center

August 12, 2018
Holmdel, NJ
P.N.C. Bank Arts Center

August 14, 2018
Wantagh, NY
Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater

August 17, 2018
Nashville, TN
Nashville Municipal Auditorium

August 19, 2018
Charlotte, NC
PNC Music Pavilion

August 25, 2018
West Palm Beach, FL
Coral Sky Amphitheatre

August 26, 2018
Tampa, FL
MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre