Robert Plant to take his Tennessee-based musicians to Europe

After the current U.S. leg of Robert's Plant's tour with the Band of Joy, he'll be taking his group of Nashville players back to Europe with him for a series of tour dates. In addition to their previously announced U.K. dates surrounding the September album release (Sept. 13 in Europe and Sept. 14 in the United States), the group plans to headed to the continent's mainland in October. The full slate of non-U.S. concert dates is currently scheduled as follows (with updates added on Aug. 8 and Aug. 11):

• Sept. 2: London, England - HMV Forum (already on sale)
• Oct. 14: Stockholm, Sweden - Annext
• Oct. 16: Oslo, Norway - Sentrum Scene
• Oct. 17: Copenhagen, Denmark - Falkoner Theatre (Update, Aug. 11: This show has been canceled)
• Oct. 18: Edinburgh, Scotland - Usher Hall (Update, Aug. 8: This show has been added; already on sale)
• Oct. 19: Berlin, Germany - Tempodrom (Update, Aug. 11: This show has been canceled)
• Oct. 20: Gateshead, England - The Sage Gateshead (Update, Aug. 8: This show has been added; tickets)
• Oct. 21: Liverpool, England - The Olympia (Update, Aug. 8: This show has been added; tickets)
• Oct. 21: Paris France - Palais de Sports (Update, Aug. 8: This show has been postponed to Oct. 24)
• Oct. 24: Brussels, Belgium - Cirque Royal (Update, Aug. 8: This show has been canceled)
  
• Oct. 24: Paris, France - Palais De Sports (Update, Aug. 8: This show has been rescheduled from Oct. 21)
• Oct. 26: Cardiff, Wales - St. David's Hall (already on sale)
• Oct. 27: Birmingham, England - Symphony Hall (already on sale)
• Oct. 31: Manchester, England - Palace Theatre (already on sale)
• Nov. 1: Dublin, Ireland - Olympia
• Nov. 2: Belfast, Northern Ireland - Waterfront (Update, Aug. 11: This show has been added)

On the eve of what Plant said was his first concert with the Band of Joy in 43 years, he spoke during a press conference in Memphis about another time in history that performers from Tennessee found themselves bringing their music to European audiences.

"That Stax tour that came to Europe with Eddie Floyd and Otis [Redding] -- that was huge," said Plant, referring to the Stax/Volt Revue that sent a lineup of Memphis-based soul singers from the Stax label to Scandinavia in 1967.

"You can get DVDs of your people playing in Sweden, and the people are just screaming and going mad," said Plant. A disc filmed in Norway on April 7, 1967, includes a headlining performance from Redding as well as supporting acts Floyd, Booker T. and the MGs, the Mar-Keys, Arthur Conley, and Sam and Dave. The disc was released three years ago, in conjunction with the show's 40th anniversary.

Plant continued, "I was talking to [Booker T. and the MGs bassist Donald] 'Duck' Dunn not long ago -- and it was early in the evening -- and he was just saying how amazed they were that Memphisians, or whatever you call it, got off the plane and became like Elvis [Presley], you know. It was fantastic!"

A member of the Band of Joy crew told Lemon Squeezings last week he expects the group would return to the United States for another round of touring in January, if not earlier.

The Band of Joy includes guitarist Buddy Miller, who joined Plant and Alison Krauss on their Raising Sand tour in 2008, which also played a handful of dates in Europe. Miller and Plant, who are the co-producers of the forthcoming Band of Joy album, are joined onstage by singer-songwriters Patty Griffin and Darrell Scott as well as drummer Marco Giovino and bassist Byron House.

Miller, Griffin and Scott are all afforded onstage opportunities to lead songs of their own. Their live sets consist partly of Americana music -- some of which Plant first tackled with Led Zeppelin on the albums Led Zeppelin III, Physical Graffiti and Presence -- as well as songs from his solo work and his 2-year-old collaboration with Krauss. On Plant's new album, he draws mainly from a selection of music cutting across several generations of Americana.