Robert Plant and the Sensational Space Shifters Down Under:
This round up by Bill McGlynn:

Just returned from my third Robert Plant & SSS concert, in Newcastle. It’s been three wonderful nights, to say the least! All three setlists have been the same and the orders have varied. In Newcastle, it started with a very powerful version of Friends.
The venues and audiences have been quite different over the three nights.
Robert and band really fed off the crowd excitement at the festival in Byron Bay. Robert was breaking out many of the old …

It was sad to hear of the passing of Ravi Shanker age 92, the virtuoso sitar player who influenced so many Western musicians most notably George Harrison – Jimmy Page was also an early convert of Indian musical instruments .
As Jimmy revealed on his official website on the this day entry for 4 Feb 1967:
At the end of the Yardbirds tour of Australia, there were two options to return to England: one, which was chosen by the rest of the band, was to route through San Francisco; but I chose to …

John Paul Jones has received an honorary fellowship from Deptford’s Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in South London.
John, a former Blackheath schoolboy, received the accolade at the prestigious performing arts college in Creekside last Thursday.
He joins the ranks of other acclaimed artists who have received the honour, including Academy nominated composer John Powell, musician Ravi Shanker and Classical FM Managing Director Darren Henley.
Them Crooked Vultures have released two previously unheard live tracks via their facebook site recorded on their world tour last year (possibly from Sydney).
The two tracks - ‘Nobody Loves Me …

John Paul Jones, along with Seasick Steve made a surprise appearance at the Foo Fighters Sunday night show at the Milton Keynes Bowl. The Them Crooked Vultures band mates, along with Steve performed “Back In The Doghouse”, a track from Seasick’s new album ‘You Can’t Teach An Old Dog New Tricks.’
Here’s a first hand report from Michaela Firth:
After recovering from the mix of mud and sunshine at Glastonbury where we saw bands as varied as  U2 , Biffy Clyro, Coldplay,Morrisey, Two Door Cinema Club , Pendulum , Don Mclean  & Elbow , …

Them Crooked Vultures, Band Of Joy’s Patty Griffin and Jeff Beck triumphed in the 53rd Grammy Awards staged last night at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
New Fang from the Them Crooked Vultures album featuring John Paul Jones, Dave Grohl and Josh Homme, won the Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance.
In their nominated categories, Robert Plant & The Band Of Joy lost out to Paul McCartney’s Helter Skelter in the Best Solo Rock Performance category and to Mavis Staples album You Are Not Alone in the Best Americana Album category. …

John Paul Jones was 65 on Monday January 3rd. His involvement in the forthcoming Anna Nicole opera is further testament to his unquenching thirst for musical invention. Here’s a round up of some inspired moments from a career that continues to suprise, innovate and delight.
Happy (slightly belated)birthday John from us to you…..
Diamanda Galás – Do You Take This Man (1994)

John Paul Jones – The Smile Of Your Shadow

Going To California

Lenny Kravitz “Are You Gonna Go My Way?”

Them Crooked Vultures – 02 Dead End Friends (pro-shot, Reading 2009)

And finally JPJ with …

Manson’s Guitar Shop has announced that  John Paul Jones  will be appearing at this year’s show which takes place on  Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th October 2010.
Here’s the  info:
The 2010 Mansons Guitar Show is set to be both the biggest and best show yet with a record number of exhibitors confirmed including virtually every great guitar company on the planet. Manufacturers will be bringing their best model examples to exhibit at the prestigious weekend with several UK exclusive launches confirmed. A great mixture of the small independent guitar companies are …

The new Tight But Loose magazine is almost ready to go. We signed off the proofs yesterday and it should be all ready to ship out at the end of the month.
Many thanks to Mick Lowe, Gary Foy, Cliff Hilliard and Jez Firth for their help with this issue and all the contributors who have made it what it is.

With so much recent Zep related activity, this 27th issue of the magazine has grown in to quite an epic. Over the past three months, designer Mike Lowe and …

With the Them Crooked Vultures members now returning back to their day jobs , John Paul Jones first post TCV appearance found him in Spain at the  African Express concert held in A Coruña, Galiza, NW Spain over the weekend. Reports are sparse but I can confirm that John appeared playing bass on Elíades Ochoa’s version of “Chan Chan.” Mariam improvised and everyone enhanced the haunting Cuban masterpiece. He also appeared alongside former Clash guitarist Mick Jones, Amadou and Mariam, Ochoa, Amparo Sánchez and others in a version of “Rock …

AP Photo/Brian Chilson 
As Robert Plant and The Band Of Joy continue their tour of the US,  an additional six European dates  have been lined up for October. The dates are;
14th October, Annexet, Stockholm, Sweden, www.ticketmaster.nl
16th October, Sentrum Scene, Oslo, Norway, www.ticketmaster.nl
17th October, Falconer Salen, Frederiksberg, Denmark, www.livenation.fr
19th October, Tempodrom, Berlin, Germany, www.livenation.de
21st October, Palais des Sports, Paris, France www.livenation.fr
24th October, Cirque Royal, Bruxelles, Belgium.  www.livenation.fr
If you are attending any of the shows in the US or Europe, TBL welcomes your input – reviews, set lists, photos  etc that we can …