Finally, it's official. Jimmy Page and the Black Crowes, the southern-fried Zeppelin that first reared it's head last fall for a handful of club dates and a subsequent live CD, will shake their moneymakers across the U.S. this summer with a twenty-two date (and counting) tour. If you didn't see this one coming from miles away, chances are you missed the news earlier this week that the Who were reuniting for the upteenth time in two decades - as Pete Townshend and Co. announced earlier this week that they would be sharing a road crew with Page and the Crowes.

As reported from the Who's press conference on Monday, the bands will play the same cities and venues on alternate nights (though three nights on the Page/Crowes tour will not be routed with the Who: July 4 in Raleigh, N.C.; Aug. 8 in Sacramento, Calif; and Sept. 29 in Noblesville, Ind.) Tickets will be sold separately for each show, but fans buying lawn tickets for both nights will get a $7.50 discount for each night. Although none of the dates announced so far feature the Page/Crowes combo sharing the same bill with the Who, more dates are expected to be added in October, possibly including a Madison Square Garden show featuring both bands that Roger Daltrey alluded to at the press conference.

Both tours are being sponsored by MusicMaker.com, the custom-CD site currently selling Internet-only double live CDs by both bands. The Page/Crowes disc, Live at the Greek, was released on Feb. 19 and has spawned a hit radio single with "What Is and What Should Never Be."

Tickets for the first twenty-two dates of the Jimmy Page and the Black Crowes tour go on sale April 29. The confirmed dates are as follows:

6/24: Chicago, IL, New World Music Theater
6/26: Detroit, MI, The Palace of Auburn Hills
6/28: Pittsburgh, PA, Coca-Cola Star Lake
6/30: Holmdel, NJ, PNC Bank Arts Center
7/2: Boston, MA, Great Woods
7/4: Raleigh, NC, Walnut Creek Amphitheater
7/6: Washington, DC, Nissan Pavilion
7/8: Philadelphia, PA, E Center
7/10: Wantaugh, NY, Jones Beach Amphitheater
8/13: Phoenix, AZ, Blockbuster Desert Sky
8/15: Irvine, CA, Irvine Meadows
8/18: Seattle, WA, Gorge Amphitheater
8/20: Sacramento, CA, Valley Amphitheater
8/22: Mountain View, CA, Shoreline Amphitheater
8/25: Denver, CO, Pepsi Center
8/28: Dallas, TX, Reunion Arena
8/30: Houston, TX, Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
9/23: Miami, FL, Coral Sky
9/25: Tampa Bay, FL, Ice Palace
9/27: Atlanta, GA, Philips Arena
9/29: Noblesville, IN, Deer Creek Music Center
10/1: Cleveland, OH, Gund Arena

RICHARD SKANSE
(April 15, 2000)