Jeff Beck has planned a short U.S. tour around his appearance at Eric Clapton’s Crossroads festival this September. The tour will end with a special gig the guitarist has planned at the Hollywood Bowl where he will reunite with his former Jeff Beck Group singer Rod Stewart. He’s billing it as his and Stewart’s “most in-depth concert in over 35 years.”
For the rest of the tour, which kicks of in Kansas City, MO on September 17th, Beck will be accompanied by drummer Vinnie Colaiuta, bassist Rhonda Smith vocalist Jimmy Hall and cellist Vanessa Freebairn-Smith. Tickets for the shows will go on sale this coming Friday, June 21st, with the exception of the Phoenix date, which goes on sale June 24th.
Beck first rose to prominence in 1965 when he replaced Clapton in the Yardbirds. He parted ways with the group soon after and formed the Jeff Beck Group in 1967 with Stewart on vocals and current Rolling Stones guitarist Ron Wood on bass, among other members.
In an in-depth interview with Rolling Stone last year, Beck reflected on when he finally met Clapton — well after the two of them were both out of the Yardbirds. He said that even though Clapton has admitted to feeling some rivalry toward him, he didn’t feel the same. “I just thought he’s got the blues covered,” Beck said. “And he’s also got some very good pop songs. And I don’t have either, really. I’m not committed to putting myself up for a blues guitarist, even though I love playing the blues.”
He also discussed why he broke up the Jeff Beck Group at a time when they seemed to be on the precipice of fame. The band had been booked to play Woodstock, but Beck canceled the gig. “We just hadn’t played in front of large audiences,” he said. “We’d done the Fillmore West, which was a joyous thing, except for the part where everybody started to sniff the smoke in the air, which would make you stoned. But somewhere along the line, when the second tour came along and we were offered to play at Woodstock, I thought there was a bad vibe in the band. It was sort of Ronnie Wood and Rod and that’s it. And I wasn’t anywhere in the picture. They’d go off, and I’d be stuck.”
Beck later buried the hatchet with Stewart, appearing as a special guest at one of Stewart’s gigs in 1984. Stewart also joined Beck at a 2009 concert to sing “People Get Ready.”
Jeff Beck Tour Dates
September 17 – Kansas City, MO @ Uptown Theater
September 18 – Tulsa, OK @ Brady Theater
September 20 – Dallas, TX @ Crossroads Festival
September 21 – Austin, TX @ Paramount Theatre
September 22 – San Antonio, TX @ Tobin Center for the Performing Arts
September 24 – Phoenix, AZ @ Celebrity Theatre
September 27 – Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Bowl