FROM: MITCH SCHNEIDER/TODD BRODGINSKI/LATHUM NELSON
THE BLACK CROWES
WILL BE INDUCTED INTO HOLLYWOOD ROCKWALK ON MAY 14;
'LICKIN' BULLETING UP ROCK CHART
AS LENO, LETTERMAN AND JON STEWART APPEARANCES ARE CONFIRMED;
90-MINUTE BLACK CROWES RADIO SPECIAL
VIA MJI RADIO NETWORK
SET TO AIR NATIONALLY BETWEEN MAY 2-6
A week after the May 8 release of their LIONS album on V2, THE BLACK CROWES will be inducted into Hollywood's RockWalk, which recognizes those artists who have made a contribution to the evolution of rock 'n roll. The ceremony is set to take place Monday, May 14, the same day their "Tour of Brotherly Love" with OASIS comes to Los Angeles for a two-night stand at the Greek Theatre. THE BLACK CROWES' handprints will take up a permanent residence on the Sunset Boulevard sidewalk gallery alongside some of rock's greatest, including Jimmy Page, B.B. King, James Brown, Jeff Beck, Brian Wilson, John Lee Hooker, Johnny Cash and Aerosmith.
In other news, "Lickin'," the band's first single from LIONS with an inventively stuttering riff, is bulleted at #15 in only its third week on Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart. In addition, THE BLACK CROWES–vocalist CHRIS ROBINSON, guitartist RICH ROBINSON, drummer STEVE GORMAN, keyboardist ED HARSCH, guitarist AUDLEY FREED and new bassist ANDY HESS–will keep a high profile on TV with performances confirmed for Thursday, May 10 on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Wednesday, June 6 on the Late Show with David Letterman. In addition, CHRIS will make a return visit Monday, May 7 to the Jon Stewart-hosted Daily Show on Comedy Central. Elsewhere, CHRIS and RICH will appear Tuesday, May 8 on the "Howard Stern Show."
At the same time, the band recently performed and held a question and answer session for fans at New York City's intimate S.I.R. Studios. The MJI Radio Networks' World Premiere Broadcast–which featured a blend of old and soon-to-be BLACK CROWES classics–will air nationwide as a 90-minute special May 2-6. (Details forthcoming re the accompanying webcast.)
The Don Was-produced LIONS, rocks, shakes, and has a lot of deep soul. Not to mention a redemptive spirit that is joyous and uplifting. In a recent Album Network feature, CHRIS said: "We're trying to make the most soulful, interesting rock & roll music that we can with the tools we feel comfortable expressing ourselves [with] and that's what you get. This record is an accumulation of experience, the things that happen in your career, which are things that happen in your life. Within that, I think LIONS is easily the best record that we've ever made, but we approached every record the same way. It's just that the time, different situations, producers and places in our lives are all a little different." In that same feature, RICH stated: "People ask us what kind of music we play…Now we say we play Black Crowes music. To get even more general than that, it's soul music-which doesn't necessarily mean it's R&B, it's just music from and for the soul."
Marking the band's sixth studio release, LIONS is a work of stunning musicianship and gutsy emotional peaks. In his Maxim review, David Peisner wrote: "Lions is a bold gut-check of a record as impressive as anything the Crowes have thrown down in nearly a decade…Chris Robinson…puts his pipes to great use on soulful ballads ("Miracle to Me") and ferocious rockers ("Come On") alike. Strutting like cocky vets but snarling like they've got something to prove, the Crowes show why they're kings of the rock 'n roll jungle."
Meanwhile, the greatest all-out rock 'n roll show of the summer, "THE TOUR OF BROTHERLY LOVE," featuring co-headliners THE BLACK CROWES and OASIS, will be steam-rolling though 17 North American cities beginning May 11 in Las Vegas. The much anticipated trek pairing the best of American and British live rock includes three sold-out shows at Radio City Music Hall in New York City June 7-9.
The dates are as follows:
DATE CITY VENUE
Fri 5/11 Las Vegas, NV The Joint
Sat 5/12 Santa Barbara, CA Santa Barbara Bowl
Mon 5/14 Los Angeles, CA Greek Theatre
Tue 5/15 Los Angeles, CA Greek Theatre
Thu 5/17 Denver, CO Fiddler's Green
Sat 5/19 St. Paul, MN Xcel Energy Center
Sun 5/20 Chicago, IL New World Music Theatre
Tue 5/22 Toronto, ONT Molson Amphitheater
Thur 5/24 Cincinnati, OH Riverbend Music Center
Fri 5/25 Cleveland, OH Blossom Music Center
Sun 5/27 Wallingford, CT Oakdale Theatre
Tue 5/29 Pittsburgh, PA AJ Palumbo Center
Wed 5/30 Philadelphia, PA Blockbuster
Fri 6/1 Indianapolis, IN Verizon Wireless Music
Sat 6/2 Detroit, MI Pine Knob Music Theatre
Sun 6/3 Darien Center, NY Darien Lake Performing Art Center
Tue 6/5 Baltimore, MD Merriweather Post Pavilion
Thu 6/7 New York, NY Radio City Music Hall
Fri 6/8 New York, NY Radio City Music Hall
Sat 6/9 New York, NY Radio City Music Hall
Mon 6/11 Boston, MA Tweeter Center
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