Courtesy of Live NationBad Company kicks off a new joint U.S. trek with Joe Walsh dubbed the One Hell of a Night tour this evening in Dallas. The veteran British band will be without one of its founding members on the road trip, as guitarist/songwriter Mick Ralphs decided recently that he wasn’t physically up for the tour, prompting the group to hire ex-Black Crowes guitarist Rich Robinson to fill in for Ralphs.
Bad Company frontman Paul Rodgers explains to ABC Radio, “Mick, bless his cotton socks — I mean bless his heart, really — he took one look at the itinerary and he said, ‘You know what, man? I can’t do this.”
Rodgers says that he and his band mates were understandably disappointed about Ralphs not taking part in the trek, “because Mick has his particular sound and he wrote a lot of the songs,” although he believes Robinson will “be great.”
The singer says he got the idea to offer Rich the gig after performing with him at a special tribute event for Jimmy Page this past November at the EMP Museum in Seattle.
Rodgers also tells ABC Radio that he’s excited to see how Robinson will collaborate with Bad Company’s second guitarist, ex-Heart member Howard Leese, during the tour.
“I think the two of them will work well together,” Paul maintains, “and I’m interested to see where we take this musically, because we’ll be playing the Bad Company material, but it’ll have a little different touch to it because of the new energy involved, I believe.”
As for touring with Walsh, Rodgers says he goes way back with the Eagles guitarist and reveals that it was his idea for Bad Company to team up with him.
“It’s a great combination, I think,” Rodgers tells ABC Radio. “Our catalogs of music really complement each other in many, many respects.”
Bad Company will alternate with Walsh as headliner throughout the trek, which runs through a July 3 concert in Nashville.
As for whether his band and Walsh might hit the stage together to jam during the tour, Rodgers says, “It’s always a possibility. You never know with these things. I would love to. I think that would be fantastic.” However, he admits that jamming can be difficult, logistically, since the opening act often begins traveling to the next gig while the headliner is playing its set.
Here are all of the dates on Bad Company and Joe Walsh’s One Hell of a Night tour, according to PaulRodgers.com:
5/12 — Dallas, TX, Gexa Energy Pavilion
5/15 — Morrison, CO, Red Rocks Amphitheatre
5/17 — Concord, CA, Concord Pavilion
5/18 — Chula Vista, CA, Sleep Train Amphitheater
5/20 — Inglewood, CA, The Forum
5/22 — Phoenix, AZ, Ak-Chin Pavilion
5/24 — The Woodlands, TX, Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
5/26 — New Orleans, LA, Bold Sphere Music at Champions Square
5/28 — Tampa, FL, MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre
5/29 — West Palm Beach, FL, Perfect Vodka Amphitheatre
6/7 — Darien Lake, NY, Darien Lake Performing Arts Center
6/9 — Mansfield, MA, Xfinity Center
6/11 — Holmdel, NJ, PNC Bank Arts Center
6/12 — Camden, NJ, BB&T Pavilion
6/14 — Wantagh, NY, Nikon at Jones Beach Theater
6/16 — Noblesville, IN, Klipsch Music Center
6/18 — Maryland Heights, MO, Hollywood Casino Amphitheater
6/20 — Kansas City, MO, Starlight Theatre
6/22 — Clarkston, MI, DTE Energy Music Theatre
6/23 — Chicago, IL, FirstMerit Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island
6/25 — Hinckley, MN, Grand Casino Hinckley Amphitheater*
6/26 — Cuyahoga Falls, OH, Blossom Music Center
6/28 — Pittsburgh, PA, First Niagara Pavilion
6/30 — Charlotte, NC, PNC Music Pavilion
7/1 — Atlanta, GA, Chastain Park Amphitheatre
7/3 — Nashville, TN, Carl Black Chevy Woods Amphitheatre at Fontanel
9/1 — Tulalip, WA, Tulalip Amphitheatre*
9/4 — Murphys, CA, Ironstone Amphitheatre*
* = Bad Company only.
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