TOUR UPDATES: PROJECT/OBJECT Recreates Zappa … And Much More!

PROJECT/OBJECT, the ever-evolving Mother of Frank Zappa reinvention, returns to its most popular configuration in July for a brief East Coast tour before crossing the Atlantic to make its European debut at the Zappanale Festival in Germany. Zappa vocalist-guitarist Ike Willis returns as special guest frontman for PROJECT/OBJECT after sharing those duties in the spring with fellow Zappa vocalist Napoleon Murphy Brock on their first national tour together in 18 years. The extensive U.S. tour set attendance records in clubs and theaters from coast-to-coast. Demand was so great that PROJECT/OBJECT is planning another large-scale tour for the fall, once again pairing the two Zappa vocalists.

"We had an absolute blast mixing it up with Ike and Nappy on stage and the fans couldn't get enough," said PROJECT/OBJECT ringleader/guitarist Andre Cholmondeley. "So we were fortunate enough that our schedules allowed us to pair them up again for an encore in the fall."

The fall tour will mark the first time the band will have mounted two such tours in the same year, proving that PROJECT/OBJECT's ongoing mission to perpetuate the music of one of the most important and influential composers of the 20th century is increasingly vital, almost a decade after Zappa's untimely death.

The summer tour, with Willis, kicks off July 10 in Woodstock, NY and wraps up 10 days later in Atlanta, GA. Along the way, PROJECT/OBJECT will be featured at the moe. or les festival and campout in Brandywine, MD, which marks the historic summer pairing of jam band allies moe. and Les Claypool's Frog Brigade. Later in July, PROJECT/OBJECT will be joined by Ike Willis in Germany as it makes its European debut at the Zappanale Festival in Bad Doberan.

With Willis on guitar and vocals and Cholmondeley on guitar, the rest of the PROJECT/OBJECT lineup is comprised of Robbie "Seahag" Mangano (guitar); Dave Johnsen (bass); Jordan Shapiro (keyboards), and Wesley Paich (drums).

Willis (1978-88) is one of Zappa's most durable and beloved sidemen, whose soulful vocal hysterics are best remembered as the voice of Joe on the "Joe's Garage" rock opera trilogy. He toured the world six times with the maestro and was the voice of his music for 14 years on countless recordings, many still unreleased.

PROJECT/OBJECT will be playing many authentic renditions from "Roxy and Elsewhere," "One Size Fits All" and "Joe's Garage" at every stop on this leg of the tour, plus plenty of other classic Zappa material Willis helped make famous.

Since its formation a decade ago, PROJECT/OBJECT has been rapidly gaining notoriety for its onstage dedication to its singular mission. The band continually introduces successive generations of improv-oriented music fans around the country to Zappa's monumental legacy, performing music from every era of Zappa's prolific career while acutely recreating the unique fun and excitement of the Frank Zappa concert experience.

Project/Object Summer 2002 tour:

June 19 Santa Cruz, CA The Catalyst (Zen Tricksters open)

June 20 Tahoe City, CA River Ranch Lodge

June 21 Laytonville, CA Morning Spring Rain (w/ Jorma Kaukonen, Melvin Seals, OM Trio, others)

June 22 Eureka, CA Saturday Club West

June 23 Petaluma, CA Sunday Mystic Theater

July 10 Woodstock, NY Joyous Lake

July 11 Newport, RI Area 22

July 12 Trenton, NJ Conduit

July 13 Brandywine, MD moe. or les festival

July 15 Greenville, NC Peasant's Cafe

July 16 Carrboro, NC Cat's Cradle

July 17 Asheville, NC Stella Blue

July 18 Charlotte, NC Visulite Theatre

July 19 Athens, GA Georgia Theaer

July 20 Atlanta, GA Variety Playhouse

July 26 Brad Doberan, GER Zappanale Festival

Koko Taylor Cancels A Few More Concerts Due To Illness

Koko Taylor has had to cancel a few shows but will be back on the road on June 27 when she performs at a benefit scheduled at the Chicago Theatre with Ray Charles, also on the bill.

"She's diabetic and had some complications with her blood sugar levels beginning late last week," an Alligator Records spokesperson told CelebrityAccess. "Everything's fine now and she's home."

Taylor was hospitalized in late January and also missed a few concerts.

Rolling Stones Book North American Shows In 2003

The Rolling Stones have very quietly started booking the second leg of their 2002-03 world tour with North American dates starting January 8 in Montreal. The itinerary includes one repeat market (Boston) from the fall 2002 leg. The preliminary itinerary is:

January 8 Montreal, Molson Centre

January 10 Pittsburgh, PA Mellon Arena

January 12 Boston, MA Fleet Center

January 25 Houston, TX Reliant Stadium

January 28 Oklahoma City, OK Ford Center Arena

January 30 Phoenix, AZ America West Arena

February 1 Denver, CO Pepsi Center

Grateful Dead Members Responds To Alpine Cancellation

The remaining members of the Grateful Dead — Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh and Bob Weir –posted the following message to its fans on their message board, vowing to perform together this summer:

Dear Friends:

We are gratefully overwhelmed by the support you have shown us, specifically the very direct support you demonstrated in your response to the two shows at Alpine Valley.

You will all understand that we and our promoter were dismayed by the decision made at the recent Walworth County Highway Committee meeting. We certainly appreciate the concerns of anyone who believes that 200,000 people might be coming, but such a number simply does not square with the 30 years of Dead history. That being said, we are currently looking at all the alternatives available to us to insure a safe and successful event. To that end, we are attempting to resolve the issues that were brought up at the hearing, as well as looking at other venues in the general region.

As always, we are committed to working with the communities we visit. We have never wanted to create a situation in which we, our fans, or the local area has a negative experience.

We intend to play together in public this summer. We thank you for your patience and understanding — we will work this out. As soon as the proper solution reveals itself, we will make our plans public. Honest, you'll be the first to know.

Sincerely,


Mickey, Billy, Phil, and Bobby

Rusted Root To Open 16 Santana Shows

Rusted Root has secured 16 East Coast and Midwest dates on the Santana tour kicking off July 31 in Virginia Beach, VA and wrapping August 25 in St. Paul, MN.

This will not be Rusted Root’s first time out with Santana, but for lead singer/guitarist Michael Glabicki, co-founder of Rusted Root, this tour in particular, promises its share of surprises. "I expect to be up onstage with Santana and have him play three or four songs I've never heard, and he's gonna point to me about 30 seconds into each song and ask me to take a solo," Glabicki laughs. "Then he's going to walk offstage with a cigar and leave me there. Always with Carlos, it's a big, huge smile; that's what I love about playing with him."

The Santana/Rusted Root itinerary:

7/31 Virginia Beach, VA Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre

8/2 Columbia, MD Merriweather Post Pavillion

8/3 Hartford, CT Meadows Music Center

8/4 Camden, NJ Tweeter Center @ Waterfront

8/6 Mansfield, MA Tweeter Center for Performing Arts

8/7 Holmdel, NJ PNC Bank Arts Center

8/9-10 Wantaugh, NY Jones Beach Amphitheatre

8/11 Saratoga Springs, NY Saratoga PAC

8/14 Toronto, ONT Molson Amphitheatre

8/16 Cuyahoga Falls, OH Blossom Music Center

8/17 Noblesville, IN Verizon Wireless Music Center

8/19-20 Clarkston, MI DTE Energy Music Theater

8/21 Grand Rapids, MI Van Andel Arena

8/23 Tinley Park, IL Tweeter Ctr (World Music Theater)

8/24 Milwaukee, WI Marcus Amphitheatre

8/25 St. Paul, MN Xcel Energy Center

Morrissey Returns To Tour Circuit

Morrissey returns to touring after a two-year absence, with a string of dates in the US, Canada and Japan, beginning August 1 in Salt Lake City.

Morrissey Tour Dates:

August 1 Salt Lake City, UT Fairpark

August 3 Colorado Springs, CO Music Hall

August 4 Albuquerque, NM Sunshine Theater

August 6 El Paso, TX, venue TBA

August 7 Tucson, AZ Rialto

August 9 Phoenix, AZ Celebrity Hall

August 10 Yuma, AZ. Convention Hall

August 17 Osaka, JAP, Summer Sonic Festival

August 18 Tokyo JAP Summer Sonic Festival

August 20 Anchorage, AK. Egan Center

August 22 Seattle, WA Paramount

August 23 Portland, OR Roseland

August 24 Eugene, OR McDonald Theatre

August 26 Calgary, AB MacEwan Hall

August 27 Edmonton, AB Red's

August 29 Vancouver, BC Commodore Ballroom

September 6-7 Las Vegas, NV House of Blues

September 13 Anaheim, CA Arrowhead Pond

September 14 Berkeley, CA Greek Theatre

September 15 San Diego, CA Open Air Theatre

Roth, Hagar Add Second Leg To Tour

In the midst of their much talked about co-headlining tour, David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar have tacked on a second leg of dates starting July 23 in Bossier City, LA and continuing through September 8 in Bakersfield, CA. The first leg kicked off May 29 in Cleveland, OH and wraps up June 29 in George, WA.

Second Leg:

July 23 Bossier City, LA Century Tel Center

July 25 Oklahoma City, OK Ford Center

July 26 Kansas City, MO Verizon Wireless Amphitheater

July 28 San Antonio, TX Verizon Wireless Amphitheater

July 31 West Palm Beach, FL Mars Music Amphitheater

August 1 Tampa, FL Ice Palace

August 3 Nashville, TN Amsouth Amphitheater

August 4 Atlanta, GA Hi Fi Buys Amphitheater

August 6 Raleigh, NC Alltel Pavilion

August 7 Charlotte, NC Verizon Wireless Amphitheater

August 10 Atlantic City, NJ Trump Marina

August 11 Pittsburgh, PA Post Gazette Pavilion

August 13 Scranton, PA Montage Mountain

August 14 Hershey, PA Hershey Park Stadium

August 16 Bristow, VA Nissan Pavilion

August 17 Camden, NJ Tweeter Center

August 19 Virginia Beach, VA Verizon Wireless
Amphitheater

August 20 Holmdel, NJ PNC Bank Arts Center

August 22 Hartford, CT Meadows Music Center

August 24 Saratoga Springs, NY Saratoga Springs PAC

August 25 Essex Junction, VT Champlain Valley Exposition

August 27 Gilford, NH Meadowbrook Farm

August 28 Boston, MA Tweeter Center

August 31 Buffalo, NY Darien Lake Art Center

September 1 Syracuse, NY New York State Fair

September 6 Chula Vista, CA Coors Amphitheater

September 7 Las Vegas, NV TBA

Aerosmith Takes Kid Rock And Run D-MC On Tour This Summer

Aerosmith continues its 2002 tour this summer that will hit 40-plus dates in North America and feature Kid Rock and special guest Run D-MC. Clear Channel Entertainment's promotion and production kicks off in Holmdel, NJ on August 13 and runs through November with more dates to be announced.

Aerosmith's Steven Tyler: "I can't wait to get back on the road!! Loud guitars, screaming girls, diesel fuel and room service!! Forget about it!! What's not to love about that?!?!?"

Aerosmith/Kid Rock North American Tour Itinerary:

August 13 Holmdel, NJ PNC

August 15 Pittsburgh, PA Post Gazette Pavilion

August 17 Hershey, PA Hershey Park Stadium

August 20 Washington D.C. Nissan

August 22 Boston, MA Tweeter Center

August 24 Boston, MA Tweeter Center

August 28 Wantagh, NY Jones Beach

August 30 Wantagh, NY Jones Beach

September 1 Chicago, IL Tweeter Center

September 3 Toronto, ON Molson Amphitheatre

September 5 Hartford, CT The Meadows

September 7 Camden, NJ Tweeter Waterfront

September 10 Scranton, PA Montage Mountain

September 12 Cleveland, OH Blossom

September 14 Milwaukee, WI Alpine Valley

September 16 Columbus, OH Polaris Amphitheatre

September 18 Detroit, MI DTE Energy Center

September 20 Cincinnati, OH Riverbend Amphitheatre

September 22 Indianapolis, IN Verizon Wireless Amphitheater

October 2 Kansas City, KS Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre

October 4 Nashville< TN AmSouth Amphitheatre

October 6 St. Louis, MO UMB Band Pavilion

October 8 Baltimore, MD Merriweather Post

October 10 Virginia Beach, VA Verizon Wireless

October 17 Tampa, FL Ice Palace

October 19 West Palm, FL Mars Amphitheatre

October 22 Atlanta, GA Hi-Fi Buys Amphitheatre

October 24 New Orleans, LA Arena

October 26 Dallas, TX Race Track/Smirnoff

October 28 Houston, TX Woodlands

October 30 San Antonio, TX Verizon Wireless

November 1 Phoenix, AZ Cricket Pavilion

November 3 Irvine, CA Verizon Wireless

November 5 San Diego, CA Coors/Arena

November 7 Sacramento, CA AutoWest Amphitheatre

November 9 Las Vegas, NV MGM Grand

November 12 Tacoma, WA Tacoma Dome

November 14 San Francisco, CA Shoreline Amphitheatre