30-ish tour dates announced for Jason Bonham's Led Zeppelin Experience; drummer seeks opportunity for Zep members to help him pay tribute to John Bonham

Jason Bonham plays a custom drum kit during the Led
Zeppelin reunion concert in London on Dec. 10, 2007.
Photo by Ross Halfin; used with permission of MSO.

The tour promoted as Jason Bonham's Led Zeppelin Experience will appear for a limited run of about 30 shows in North America this fall, according to the concert itinerary announced this morning. The significance of the number 30 is that this fall marks 30 years since Bonham lost his father, and Led Zeppelin its drummer.

He says his tour is a tribute to John Bonham. What's more, he said last week he hopes the surviving members of Led Zeppelin might join him in his cause of paying tribute to his father. They'll have about 34 about 30 chances to do so.

Some details about the concert, such as the intended set list and of course what musicians are to be joining Bonham onstage, remain to be seen. The drummer insists the musicians won't be revealed before the first concert so as to shield the group from prejudice.

And of course, there's also the whole issue of whether live audiences might be seeing any special guest appearances from the likes of Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones or Robert Plant. In his interviews last week, Bonham said it's his wish that they would.

The span of these concerts overlaps Plant's European tour with the Band of Joy, so while that particular singer -- who has given his blessing to the tour -- is unavailable for most of the dates, the timing may be ideal for the other two Led Zeppelin members in question.

Jones's touring project with Them Crooked Vultures has ended just this month, and he's already shown no interest in gathering any moss. Granted, the last time he was planning a touring act with Jason Bonham, he said he hoped it wouldn't become a Led Zeppelin tribute band. But keep in mind that this is a limited-time concert tour, Jones is under no obligation, and he speaks fondly of playing the music with the young Bonham, who's now 44. For Jones, it would be just like the last time he played out live with Dave Grohl before they formed Them Crooked Vultures, when they performed two Led Zeppelin numbers at Wembley Stadium with Taylor Hawkins and -- wait a minute, who was on guitar? Oh yeah, Jimmy Page.

Page has thus far kept his 2009 promise to "be seen" more often in concert settings by going to numerous other people's concerts rather than appearing onstage, but the other part of his promise -- published one year ago on Aug. 13 -- was to be "doing some playing." If he's been doing some playing, it hasn't been public. And now that he's launching his own official website at www.jimmypage.com and an official Facebook page to go with it, he's bound to have some news he's ready to unleash. Some concert appearances, even as a guest of Jason Bonham's, may be a good way to kick off his own return to live activity.

This represents an honest assessment of what could happen. What you won't see on Lemon Squeezings is bullheaded know-it-all prognostication. If you want that, go to Prefixmag, where the commentator insists he's sure the Zeppelin members have better things to do with their time than sit in with Jason Bonham.

The complete listing of Jason Bonham's Led Zeppelin Experience tour dates follows after the break.

First Canadian segment
Shows 1-7

• Oct. 8: Dawson Creek, B.C. - Encana Events Center
• Oct. 9: Prince George, B.C. - CN Centre
• Oct. 12: Edmonton, AB - Northern Alberta Jubilee
• Oct. 13: Red Deer, AB - Enmax Centre
• Oct. 14: Calgary, AB - Southern Alberta Jubilee
• Oct. 16: Regina, SK - Brandt Centre
• Oct. 17: Winnipeg, MB - MTS Centre

First U.S. segment
Shows 8-10

• Oct. 19: Minneapolis, Minn. - State Theatre
• Oct. 20: Milwaukee, Wis. - Riverside Theatre
• Oct. 21: Merrilville, Ind. - Star Plaza

Second Canadian segment
Shows 11-15

• Oct. 23: Montral, QUE - Metropolis
• Oct. 25: Quebec City, QUE - Grand Theatre
• Oct. 27: Hamilton, ON - Hamilton Place/Great Hall
• Oct. 28: Kitchener, ON - Centre in the Square
• Oct. 29: Toronto, ON - Sony Centre

Second U.S. segment
Shows 16-33 Shows 16-30 (Three additional dates during this segment were included on the original itinerary but have been removed)

• Oct. 30: Rochester, N.Y. - Auditorium Theater
• Nov. 2: Boston, Mass. - The Orpheum
• Nov. 3: Red Bank, N.J. - Count Basie Theater
• Nov. 4: Englewood, N.J. - Bergen PAC
• Nov. 6: Philadelphia, Pa. - Merriam Theater
• Nov. 8: New York, N.Y. - Nokia Theatre
• Nov. 13: Jacksonville, Fla. - Florida Theater
• Nov. 14: Clearwater, Fla. - Ruth Eckerd Hall
• Nov. 16: Houston, Texas - Verizon Theatre
• Nov. 17: Tulsa, Okla. - Spirit Bank Event Center
• Nov. 18: Dallas, Texas - Fairpark Music Hall
• Nov. 21: Riverside, Calif. - Fox PAC
• Nov. 23: Los Angeles, Calif. - Pantages Theater
• Nov. 26: Portland, Ore. - Schnitzer Concert Hall
• Nov. 27: Seattle, Wash. - WaMu Theater

Final Canadian date
Show 34 Show 31

• Nov. 29: Vancouver, BC - The Centre PAC