Take a swamp rock supergroup and a British rock god, and what you got? You got the double bill of Robert Plant and Lil’ Band O’Gold, which will be hitting five venues in Texas, Louisiana and Tennessee during July. Plant’s been a friend and fan of the Louisiana band since 2007, when he worked with them on a Fats Domino tribute and played live with them at Tipitina’s.
New Orleans' own CC Adcock of Lil' Band of Gold and Robert Plant reunite for a summer 2013 mini-tour
Plant has of course been a Louisiana music fan for decades, covering Phil Phillips’ “Sea of Love” with the Honeydrippers in 1985; that version was an even bigger hit than Phillips’ original. (In a press release, Plant enthused that LBOG were “like the original version of the Honeydrippers”).
During 2007 the two forces collaborated on a pair of Fats tracks for a Tipitina’s Foundation benefit album; Plant made his Tipitina’s guest appearance on April 21 of that year. Along with the Fats songs they played a couple of Elvis Presley numbers, plus a Slim Harpo medley that found Plant throwing in bits of a few Led Zeppelin songs. During that trip to New Orleans, Plant was also spotted catching George Porter Jr. at the Maple Leaf, and buying records at the Louisiana Music Factory.
The LBOG are about to release an all-Domino album that will include the Plant tracks along with some newer recordings. For this tour the lineup’s mainstays—including singer/guitarist C.C. Adcock, accordionist Steve Riley and pianist David Egan—will be joined by first-generation swamp-rocker Tommy McClain of “Sweet Dreams” fame, and longtime Louisiana bandleader Lil’ Buck Sinegal.
Dates of the tour, including the July 17 stop in New Orleans, are:
Thursday, June 20: The Palladium, Dallas, TX
Friday, June 21: The Bayou Music Center, Houston, TX
Sunday, June 23: The ACL Moody Theater, Austin, TX
Saturday, July 13: Live In The Garden, Memphis, TN
Wednesday, July 17: The Mahalia Jackson Theater, New Orleans, LA
