Credit: Ross HalfinJeff Beck is set to kick off a new U.S. summer tour with special guest Buddy Guy tonight in Port Chester, New York. The guitar legends will have plenty to celebrate during the trek, as Beck will be commemorating his 50-year music career, while Guy will turn 80 on July 30.
Beck, a two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, tells ABC Radio that Guy is his “all-time hero,” adding “[w]ithout him there would be no [Jimi] Hendrix or me.”
Jeff says that among the things that make Buddy special are “his impish playing and his total and utter soul that goes into all of those bendy notes.” He adds that Guy has “just got better and better over the years.”
Beck says he is planning to jam with the blues legend during their tour, and reports that he will do some preparation so that their onstage collaborations will be memorable.
“I want to make sure that those jams are really worthwhile,” he tells ABC Radio. “They sometimes can turn into a little bit of a train wreck, but I’ll make sure that they’re not.”
Beck already was a huge fan of Guy’s the first time they met, during a London concert in the 1960s, admitting that after the show he “never was the same.” He says the pair immediately became friend, noting that Buddy was “just the humblest, nicest person.”
Beck’s U.S. tour runs through an August 21 show in Seattle, and includes a special August 10 concert at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles celebrating Jeff’s half-century in the music business . The performance also will feature guest appearances by Steven Tyler and blues-rock singer Beth Hart.
Here are all of Beck’s upcoming tour dates; all shows with Guy unless otherwise noted:
7/19 — Port Chester, NY, The Capitol Theatre
7/20 — New York, NY, Theater at Madison Square Garden
7/22 — Mashantucket, CT, Foxwoods Resort Casino
7/23 — Atlantic City, NJ, Borgata Spa & Resort Even Center
7/24 — Bethlehem, PA, Sands Bethlehem Event Center
7/26 — Holmdel, NJ, PNC Bank Arts Center
7/27 — Vienna, VA, Wolf Trap for the Performing Arts
7/29 — Canandaigua, NY, Constellation Brands – Marvin Sands Performing Arts Center
7/30 — Rochester Hills, MI, Meadow Brook Music Festival
7/31 — Highland Park, IL, Ravinia Festival
8/2 — Atlanta, GA, Chastain Park Amphitheatre
8/3 — Nashville, TN, Ascend Amphitheater
8/5 — Kansas City, MO, Starlight Theatre
8/7 — Englewood, CO, Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre
8/10 — Los Angeles, CA, Hollywood Bowl+
8/11 — Santa Ynez, CA, Chumash Casino*
8/12 — Pala, CA, Pala Casino
8/14 — Saratoga, CA, Mountain Winery*
8/16 — San Francisco, CA, Masonic Auditorium
8/17 — Santa Rosa, CA, Wells Luther Burbank Center for the Arts
8/18 — Jackson, CA, Jackson Rancheria Casino Hotel
8/20 — Goldendale, WA, Maryhill Winery
8/21 — Seattle, WA, Woodland Park Zoo Amphitheater*
* = Jeff Beck only
+ = “50 Years of Jeff Beck” show, with Buddy Guy, Steven Tyler and Beth Hart.
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