JOHN PAUL JONES New Project

[LarryD]

It was clear that majority were there to purely view the three rock legends on the stage, rather than for the new songs that they had produced.

[Aquamarine]

"Stoner rock"?

[sam_webmaster]

Them Crooked Vultures

George Palathingal

January 22, 2010

You'd be hard-pressed to put together a fantasy rock band more perfect than Them Crooked Vultures. Supplying the coolly seductive (with a hint of menace) vocals and scintillating guitar riffs is Josh Homme from Queens of the Stone Age. Pummelling the drum kit to within an inch of its life - as he did in the early 1990s with some band called Nirvana - is Dave Grohl, whom some younger fans might know better as that dude from Foo Fighters. And providing the satisfyingly heavy bass, as well as myriad other instruments, is John Paul Jones, formerly of Led Zeppelin, one of the greatest rock bands of all time.

You'd probably also be surprised to hear that the first time these three were in a room together, they were wearing cardboard crowns, eating "dragon soup" and heckling a jousting knight.

"I met Josh almost a year ago today, actually, at Dave's birthday party at [themed restaurant] Medieval Times,'' Jones says. ''It was like a surreal blind date … As Dave said, it's not somewhere you have your 40th birthday, more like your 14th. Anyway, we kind of got over the trauma of that meeting, got in the studio and just started playing - and things started clicking."

Given each participant's busy schedule, few fans likely expected the trio to produce anything more than a few self-indulgent jam sessions. Yet not only have they put together a self-titled album that occasionally transcends the sum of its priceless parts, they're taking the show on the road.

"Well, when we decided it could be something, we thought, well, what could it be?" Jones says.

"Dave really wanted to play shows - and that's the one thing I've missed over the last couple of decades, is actually playing live. We thought, well, we could do a really good album and then go out and take it on the road, have something to play.

"Mind you, the show is the record. We wrote about 17 or 18 tracks and whittled it down to the [13 on the] album, so we have got other stuff we can bring in. Some of the songs have already gone into extended jams, as well, so … the show's getting longer and longer - which I seem to remember from the '70s, that's exactly what used to happen. But there's a lot of spontaneity and it's a lot of fun to do."

Considering the calibre of Led Zeppelin, Nirvana, Foo Fighters and Queens of the Stone Age, was there ever a fear that the songs might not be good enough?

"Well, we would have been the first to spot it, to be honest," Jones says. "We didn't wanna be just a 'jammy' band. I mean, as you say, we've all been in brilliant bands, we've put out pretty great music between the three of us and we really wanted to do something that was worthy of what we'd done before - but something that we would be excited to play. We wanted to see people's jaws dropping … and they did, you know? And still do."

Jones is readjusting to the touring life remarkably well considering Them Crooked Vultures, unlike Led Zeppelin, "don't have a plane, for a start; we're all on the bus". But that might also be because he's in a band with reputedly the nicest (Grohl) and coolest (Homme) guys in rock.

"Oh yeah. All sorts of people have asked, 'What's it like in the studio with these huge egos?''' Jones says. ''And, well, no, not really - it's all very grown-up. If anybody's got an idea, we all work on it and give it a chance and if it's gonna go somewhere, we're all right behind it; if it's not then we move on to something else. Nobody's feelings get hurt. We've all done it for too long, I think, to piss about.

"It's a pretty hard act to follow, after being in Led Zeppelin … deep down I have this rule, I suppose: only be in the best band in the world. So far, so good."

THEM CROOKED VULTURES

Tuesday (sold out) and Wednesday, 7pm, Hordern Pavilion, 132 849, $105.75

http://www.smh.com.a...3663128662.html

[sam_webmaster]

Crooked Vultures ready for NZ tour

By SIMON SWEETMAN - The Dominion Post

22/01/2010

John Paul Jones is on the line from Los Angeles - he divides his time between there and London these days - and it is hard speaking to the former Led Zeppelin bassist without referencing his old band.

That makes the first five seconds of the phone call difficult as Paul Jones immediately states, "We can talk about Zeppelin. That's no problem. But I think you're going to want to hear about Crooked Vultures. It's the most excited I've been about a band in a very long time".

It's a big call, particularly when you consider that Paul Jones had worked with an incredible list of legends before changing the face of rock music with his bass and keyboard parts as one quarter of Led Zep.

Briefly a member of The Shadows, he would go on to work with the creme de la creme of the British scene in the swinging sixties: Rod Stewart, Dusty Springfield, Jeff Beck, Donovan, Cat Stevens, Lulu, and Shirley Bassey.

He arranged strings for The Rolling Stones, played on classic rock songs by Wings and The Kinks and of course went on to write, arrange and play on nine studio albums from heavy metal's equivalent to The Beatles.

But that was then.

Now it is all about Them Crooked Vultures, the "supergroup" that Paul Jones leads alongside Dave Grohl (former Nirvana drummer; Foo Fighters leader) and Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age).

It was rock's best kept secret and then - very quickly - it was the worst kept secret as news of a group involving Homme, Paul Jones and Grohl spread through the music press last year.

"It's not true that it was under wraps," Paul Jones laughs. "I mean - not to us anywhere. Not for anywhere as long as people have been reporting."

He refutes the claims that Grohl has been sitting on this idea for nearly five years.

"Dave and I worked together; I did some work with him as I've been a fan of his Foo Fighters band for a while. But I did not know Josh at all. So I think someone's having a laugh saying the project goes back that far, but we're here now. That's the main thing."

It was covert operations for a couple of months though - from late 2008 through to early 2009. Paul Jones explains, "we couldn't be seen together - all three of us, that is. We had to be very careful that only Dave and I might be photographed. Or only Josh and Dave".

He starts to chuckle, saying it's hard to keep any kind of secret in this day and age, but "Them Crooked Vultures has definitely benefited from the buildup. That can't be denied".

It is fair to make comparisons to Zeppelin too - the long shadow of that band definitely informs this project.

"Well, we're all fans of Led Zeppelin," Paul Jones says. "I played in the band of course - but I'm still a fan of the music we made. And Josh and Dave are both huge fans; that's no secret."

And, beyond that idea of overt influence, it was the Led Zeppelin reunion show from December 2007 that created the hunger now obvious in Jones' voice.

"That was the start of it; being back on stage, playing those songs - I wanted to tour with Led Zeppelin. I wanted to hit the road. I guess you could say I felt inspired again. But [Robert] Plant said no.

"So now that's not going to happen, I am free. And Jimmy

---

and I toyed, briefly, with the idea of forming a new band - simply to go and play some songs - but that didn't work.

"And that's not going to happen now, either. So it is time for Crooked Vultures."

PAUL JONES says this is the most fun he has ever had playing and reckons the flow has been effortless - "I can honestly say that this has been the easiest group I've been a part of; the easiest group to work with."

In particular he has been impressed with Homme.

"I didn't know Josh before we started playing together. I had heard of him. I had heard some of his Queens of the Stone Age material, but I wasn't prepared for just how good he was. I'm particularly blown away by just what a good guitar player he is. I almost feel like he was hiding something there. And he's a great singer and writer too."

The band began playing shows before their self-titled debut album was released in November of last year. He says he knew from the earliest rehearsals that this band were something special ("a keeper").

He says they instantly locked in; songs coming from jams, the riffs bubbling up and flowing over as soon as the instruments were picked up and the record button was hit.

"We just wanted to jam; just sit in the room and play. And that's what we did. And it's been incredibly easy, and that, I think, has been part of the magic of this. We're all having fun."

Live, Them Crooked Vultures stretch the songs out, heading for new territory. And that, Paul Jones says, does come from his old group.

"It's definitely something Zeppelin did and I think we did it well. And there's plenty of space and scope for exploration when Crooked Vultures plays live.

"We add in bits, we improvise. We have a second guitarist helping us when we play live, which gives me room to move between instruments and it gives us all freedom to search and seek."

But there won't be any Led Zeppelin covers live. Or for that matter Queens or Foo songs.

"I think the thing is, with that, we haven't once sat down and played any of our old songs. We haven't thought to; haven't needed to. At no point have any of us thought that we should cover old material. We're happy to let our songs from the past inspire some of the new content - I mean it's blues-rock music really, isn't it? So there's your influence - it all comes from the same place."

And if, after all of that, you still need a reason to see the band live, then the quiet member of Led Zeppelin has the answer: "Because", he says, moving from English gentleman to a cartoon villain, "we'll melt your bloody faces!"

Them Crooked Vultures

January 29: TSB Arena, Wellington

January 30: Vector Arena, Auckland

[Aquamarine]

^^ Really nice interview. (Apart from the bit about Homme being the coolest guy in rock. He DOES look cool in the picture, though--they all do!)

ETA--this referred to Sam's first post, but the second interview is really good too.

[Led Zep Gurl]

Ashton Kutcher just tweeted this:

Hosting SNL on Feb 6 with musical guest Them Crooked Vultures. Could not be more excited. more to come

Omg...I think I'm gonna camp out and try to get standby tix lol.

Thanks for info. Can't wait to see TCV on SNL on 2/6 and then on ACL on PBS on 2/13 on tv!

[bigzepfan]

Ashton Kutcher just tweeted this:

Hosting SNL on Feb 6 with musical guest Them Crooked Vultures. Could not be more excited. more to come

Omg...I think I'm gonna camp out and try to get standby tix lol.

Will probably see you there. I've never been to SNL but I did the NBC studio tour and

we were in the room it's filmed in.

I'll have the green TCV shirt on!

[SteveAJones]

The Age (Australia)

January 22, 2010

No Rest for The Crooked

Let's talk about pecs: Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme, Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones and the Foo

Fighters' Dave Grohl join their musical forces in the supergroup Them Crooked Vultures.

Photo: Supplied

John Paul Jones, Dave Grohl and Josh Homme. One stage. Patrick Donovan likes those odds.

IN THE first week of September, Melbourne rock fans weren't just getting excited about the end of winter and the upcoming festival season. Just as flowers started blooming, posters started mysteriously appearing on walls around town sporting a picture of a vulture-headed man with a link to a touring website with a date.

What did it all mean?

Ever since word got out that a supergroup called Them Crooked Vultures, featuring Queens of the Stone Age's Josh Homme, Nirvana and Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl and Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones, had played a surprise show in August at Cabaret Metro in Chicago, rock fans were salivating at the prospect of seeing three of the most influential rock musicians of the past 40 years play together.

Surely the two were connected?

A week later, an Australian tour was announced and the first show at Festival Hall quickly sold out - despite no one having heard any of their music, save for the odd scuzzy YouTube clip.

''It was a lot to ask of people,'' Homme says. ''We're going to be playing a bunch of songs that they'll know by then but not when they buy tickets. But I hope everyone is as excited as we are and as I would be if I was on the other side.''

The eponymously titled album was released in November and the rock fans' faith was rewarded. It sounded as most people had hoped: good-time boogie rock with enough tempo changes and left turns to make it new and interesting. It was the standout heavy-rock album of 2009 and a return to form for Homme and Grohl, who had lost their edge a bit in the past few years. For rock purists, it was an antidote to the 1980s-inspired electro pop that dominated the airwaves last year.

Asked if he thinks the band have made a classic album that will stand the test of time, Homme says: ''That's not up to me but I know I tried.''

Aware of the weight of expectation that comes with any new supergroup, the band purposely drip-fed information through guerilla marketing.

''We wanted to make it just about the music by just playing and saying nothing,'' Homme says. ''And it's hard to do that these days. So we released these teasers that say nothing but do everything. I have missed that surprise and that titillating aspect of music.''

The burly, ginger-haired guitarist says he has never been as nervous as when he first jammed with the Led Zeppelin legend.

''Dave and I are always talking about trying to do something together and when he mentioned Jones, I thought he was kidding,'' he says. ''We didn't know each other that well and I wanted him to feel that this was the right thing to do.''

The rock dream team had an unlikely meeting - at Grohl's 40th birthday party in January last year at Medieval Times in Buena Park, California. Grohl was the gatekeeper as he had played with both musicians: drums with Homme's Queens of the Stone Age on the 2002 classic Songs for the Deaf and Jones had contributed piano, mandolin and mellotron on the Foo Fighters' 2005 double album In Your Honor.

''Dave sat us together and sat behind us smiling, saying, 'Are you guys getting along?' as we watched knights mock-joust each other. It was like a weird blind date,'' Homme recalls with a chuckle.

Considering their shared love of groovy heavy rock, it seems hard to believe that Homme, 36, who has played in bands since his teens, was a latecomer to Led Zeppelin.

''My relationship with Led Zeppelin goes back to when I was 22,'' Homme says. ''In Kyuss [his seminal Palm Springs stoner-rock band], we refused to listen to any other music except the music that we had already heard, which was a desperate attempt to be uninfluenced and be in a vacuum. I was raised on punk bands like Black Flag, which was almost a reaction against Zeppelin. But when I did finally hear it, it didn't take long to realise that regardless of where it came from, it is its own genre of music.''

Recorded at Homme's Pink Duck studios in Burbank from February to July 2009, Them Crooked Vultures was written, arranged and produced by all three members, while Homme penned the lyrics and sang lead vocals. So how did three songwriters and producers manage to agree on anything?

''We knew we could do anything but when you can do anything, what the hell should you do?'' Homme says. ''I ended up bringing in a lot of the marble but it was sculptured together. But nothing was forced or unforced. One of the greatest aspects of this band for me is the security everyone has to know when to leave something alone.

''It's great being in a room with two other people and no one's sparing each other's feelings, because it shouldn't be about your feelings; we just want to play the best music possible. Everyone seemed to make the right move at the right time.''

While Homme is the main player, the incredible drumming skills of Grohl - who pounded the pads for Nirvana before evolving into the singer-songwriter guitarist for Foo Fighters - and Jones, 64 - who plays bass and keyboards and wrote and arranged many songs for Zeppelin, as well as arranging the strings for the Rolling Stones' She's a Rainbow - cannot be understated.

''Jones is the multi-tool of music,'' Homme says. ''He's the secret weapon. He is a great guy and now he's a friend of mine and that's been a great thing in my life. It was so amazing, listening to stories of such an iconic, mythologised band first-hand. Like, 'You put a fish in what?'''

In the rock canon, the best music has been produced by bands that grew organically. For whatever reason, be it egos or a lack of chemistry, so-called supergroups are very rarely greater than the sum of their parts. But Homme said he thrived on the pressure.

''I always try and push myself each time and this is the greatest thing you could ever do,'' he says. ''The base obligation of someone lucky enough to be a musician is to push art and not endorse mediocrity or rest on your name. If we had a look outside the bubble that we were in, you could pretty quickly get yourself in a whole shit storm of pressure and worry. But everyone managed to just enjoy it.''

What is it like playing with the strongest rhythm section in the world today? ''Whenever we're about to go on stage I feel like a puppy with rabies foaming at the mouth … That's actually a good thing. I feel like, 'Let me at 'em','' Homme says.

Demands from each members' main bands will probably prohibit Them Crooked Vultures from becoming a long-term project. This weekend's shows will have the heightened thrill for punters, knowing that it may be the only time they will see them play live.

The trio is trying to keep an open mind, Homme says, but there are no guarantees of more albums.

''When this thing started to get our hearts jumping, Dave and I looked at each other and said, 'We'll see this through'. I'm not sure what that means but we've got to keep talking to each other and we'll know when it's time.''

Them Crooked Vultures play Festival Hall tonight (sold out) and tomorrow.

Supergroups

Million Dollar Quartet Sun Records alumni Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash form one of the first supergroups during a jam session at the famed Memphis studio during 1956.

The Yardbirds British Invasion rock band featuring a revolving door of legendary guitarists including Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page.

CSN&Y Neil Young joins David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash in a band with soaring harmonies in 1969.

New Race 1981 concept band featuring three members of Radio Birdman - Deniz Tek, Rob Younger and Warwick Gilbert - along with their Detroit mentors: Ron Asheton of the Stooges and the MC5's Dennis Thompson.

Asia Also formed in 1981, this progressive rock band featured members of Yes, King Crimson, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Uriah Heep, U.K., Roxy Music, Wishbone Ash and the Buggles. More capes than a Superman convention.

Traveling Wilburys George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty and Bob Dylan join forces in 1980s country-rock band.

Velvet Revolver Volatile hard-rock group with unstable Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland joining former Guns N' Roses members Slash, Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum.

Chicken Foot Members of Van Halen, Deep Purple and Red Hot Chili Peppers unite in forgettable '80s throwback.

The Dead Weather Jack White retreats to the drums as Alison Mosshart of the Kills takes on lead vocals, with White's Raconteur bandmate Jack Lawrence on bass and former Raconteur Dean Fertita, also of Queens of the Stone Age, on guitar.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/entertainment/music/no-rest-for-the-crooked/2010/01/21/1263663126153.html">http://www.theage.com.au/news/entertainment/music/no-rest-for-the-crooked/2010/01/21/1263663126153.html

[SteveAJones]

Them Crooked Vultures ready to swoop on Perth

STEPH KRETOWICZ, The West Australian, January 18, 2010

To some it might seem that Dave Grohl exists in a different universe from ours; one where he can hang out in the studio with Paul McCartney one day and perform with Neil Diamond the next.

Or be drummer to one of the biggest bands of the 20th century, Nirvana, and work with David Bowie, Kaki King and Cat Power. And he manages to do all this without sacrificing his rock'n'roll credibility.

Grohl's latest project is Them Crooked Vultures, a trio instantly dubbed a supergroup which garnered automatic universal attention late last year, just because he is joined by John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin fame and Queens of the Stone Age's Josh Homme.

"It's funny because Josh and I have known each other for a really long time, since 1991 or 1992," Grohl says of his Them Crooked Vultures bandmate, whom he'd met way back when Homme was still a youngster in stoner rock band Kyuss.

"We're friends and we're musically compatible in a way that I'm not with anyone else. I don't know why and I don't know when it happened, or how it happened, but the first time I sat down at the drums, with Josh in front of me playing the guitar, special things happened and they rarely do."

Grohl says that he and Homme have been planning a band together for some time, with rumours circulating as far back as 2005. But while a collaboration between the two might seem natural, it's the involvement of 70s star Jones that could be harder to explain - the importance of which is far from lost on Grohl.

"He's really a super-sweet guy and a musical giant. He's a legend, I can't think of anything he can't do. Of anyone I've ever jammed with in my entire life, that guy is deeper and heavier than anyone."

Behind the image and reputation of Dave Grohl stands a regular guy with his own family and responsibilities. When he takes the call for this interview, Grohl is holidaying in Hawaii with his family, who are all asleep.

"Look at someone like Neil Young. He has been a huge inspiration to me musically my entire life," he says. "Not so long ago, I got to meet him and hang out with him and hang out with his family, be in his house, his home and be like, 'Wow, OK. I'm in the home of this legendary musician and he's just a guy.' He's just a man and with a beautiful family."

That said, and knowing how many great figures Grohl has worked with and met, he's still prone to being star-struck but perhaps not for the reasons you'd expect.

"What matters the most is what you play. It doesn't really matter about prestige or any of that. Someone like Kaki King, if you're familiar with what she does then you realise that she's a badass, you know. So for me, musically, that ability is intimidating in a way. It doesn't really matter what your name is or how many records you've sold.

"When I meet someone, it could be Paul McCartney, it could be Kaki King, it could be John Paul Jones, it could be Little Richard; their music has touched me so much that when I first meet them I get nervous because of what they've done," Grohl gushes.

As a high school drop-out who left school to tour with his first band Scream, and in recognising the farcical nature of an image-pushing music business, Grohl is one person who hasn't lost sight of his priorities.

"As a musician, I'm there to play music and that's my whole life. I never aspired to be a member of Kiss and I never worried about image or of being like a rock star," he says.

"I'm really lucky to be in a band with people who are only interested in playing music, and at the end of the day that's the most important thing, not how you look."

Them Crooked Vultures play Challenge Stadium on Tuesday. Tickets from Ticketmaster.

http://au.news.yahoo...swoop-on-perth/

[SteveAJones]

The Big Issue (Scotland), 16/12/2009

Them Crooked Vultures

One hell of a jam session @ Corn Exchange, Edinburgh

Them Crooked Vultures

Corn Exchange, Edinburgh

4/5

A supergroup packing in members of Queens of the Stone Age, Led Zepplin and Foo Fighters, Them Crooked Vultures were always going to attract attention so it's no surprise that Edinburgh's school hall-style Corn Exchange is buzzing well before the main act hit the stage.

To tide us over, QOTSA guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen presents his side project – Sweethead, fronted by sparkly and husky vocalist Serrina Sims. Despite some slinky moves, her vocals are buried. While I suspect the band's early David Bowie sounds are worth a proper listen at some later date, tonight they underwhelm.

The same could not be said of the main act – as soon as Dave Grohl, Josh Homme and John Paul Jones walk onstage, we are entirely overwhelmed. Yet kicking straight into a muscular version of 'No One Loves Me and Neither Do I', they sound tighter and more like a real band than you'd expect from a collection of rock refugees. The trademarks are there: Grohl's propulsive drums are still the best of a generation and it's a delight to see him do what he does best again. Jones' bass is an engine anyone would be proud of, and his spacey solo on 'Daffodils' is bizarrely sublime. Homme, meanwhile, shows the value of having a strutting cockrel of a singer up front and centre.

Nonetheless, they almost entirely eschew the sort of self-indulgence you'd expect, maintaining an impressive forward momentum throughout. Pumping out the classic rock, with proggy, psychedelic and blues interludes, these are boys that clearly know their heritage – hell, they're responsible for large sections of it.

But it's no school lesson, the Vultures are here to have fun. Bottle of vodka in one hand, lit cigarette (shock, horror) in the other, Josh implores the crowd to join them. "If you wanna get on your friend's shoulder, if you wanna go wild, that's ok, cause this is a Them Crooked Vultures show. It's not your grandma's living room," he says before attempting to seduce us with "love song" 'Caligulove'.

Granted, nothing here is going to change the world – but it's one hell of a jam session and as the satisfied fans file out of the sweatbox we're glad these 800lb gorillas of rock decided to share it with us.

http://www.bigissues...reviews/view/61

[SteveAJones]

Them Crooked Vultures - More USA Dates!

Feb 6, 2010 - Saturday Night Live telescast, New York, NY

Feb 10, 2010 - The Fillmore, Charlotte, NC

Feb 11, 2010 - The Tabernacle, Atlanta, GA

April 16, 2010 - Empire Polo Club (Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival), Indio, CA

...additional dates to be announced

[Reggie29]

Any reason why they aren't playing Japan?

Logistically it wouldn't have been much of a stretch after Oz.

[SteveAJones]

Any reason why they aren't playing Japan? Logistically it wouldn't have been much of a stretch after Oz.

I have a hunch they'd like to return to the studio before the next round of US dates, but I sincerely hope they will perform in Japan at some point.

[Reggie29]

Them Crooked Vultures

George Palathingal

January 22, 2010

You'd be hard-pressed to put together a fantasy rock band more perfect than Them Crooked Vultures. Supplying the coolly seductive (with a hint of menace) vocals and scintillating guitar riffs is Josh Homme from Queens of the Stone Age. Pummelling the drum kit to within an inch of its life - as he did in the early 1990s with some band called Nirvana - is Dave Grohl, whom some younger fans might know better as that dude from Foo Fighters. And providing the satisfyingly heavy bass, as well as myriad other instruments, is John Paul Jones, formerly of Led Zeppelin, one of the greatest rock bands of all time.

You'd probably also be surprised to hear that the first time these three were in a room together, they were wearing cardboard crowns, eating "dragon soup" and heckling a jousting knight.

"I met Josh almost a year ago today, actually, at Dave's birthday party at [themed restaurant] Medieval Times,'' Jones says. ''It was like a surreal blind date … As Dave said, it's not somewhere you have your 40th birthday, more like your 14th. Anyway, we kind of got over the trauma of that meeting, got in the studio and just started playing - and things started clicking."

Given each participant's busy schedule, few fans likely expected the trio to produce anything more than a few self-indulgent jam sessions. Yet not only have they put together a self-titled album that occasionally transcends the sum of its priceless parts, they're taking the show on the road.

"Well, when we decided it could be something, we thought, well, what could it be?" Jones says.

"Dave really wanted to play shows - and that's the one thing I've missed over the last couple of decades, is actually playing live. We thought, well, we could do a really good album and then go out and take it on the road, have something to play.

"Mind you, the show is the record. We wrote about 17 or 18 tracks and whittled it down to the [13 on the] album, so we have got other stuff we can bring in. Some of the songs have already gone into extended jams, as well, so … the show's getting longer and longer - which I seem to remember from the '70s, that's exactly what used to happen. But there's a lot of spontaneity and it's a lot of fun to do."

Considering the calibre of Led Zeppelin, Nirvana, Foo Fighters and Queens of the Stone Age, was there ever a fear that the songs might not be good enough?

"Well, we would have been the first to spot it, to be honest," Jones says. "We didn't wanna be just a 'jammy' band. I mean, as you say, we've all been in brilliant bands, we've put out pretty great music between the three of us and we really wanted to do something that was worthy of what we'd done before - but something that we would be excited to play. We wanted to see people's jaws dropping … and they did, you know? And still do."

Jones is readjusting to the touring life remarkably well considering Them Crooked Vultures, unlike Led Zeppelin, "don't have a plane, for a start; we're all on the bus". But that might also be because he's in a band with reputedly the nicest (Grohl) and coolest (Homme) guys in rock.

"Oh yeah. All sorts of people have asked, 'What's it like in the studio with these huge egos?''' Jones says. ''And, well, no, not really - it's all very grown-up. If anybody's got an idea, we all work on it and give it a chance and if it's gonna go somewhere, we're all right behind it; if it's not then we move on to something else. Nobody's feelings get hurt. We've all done it for too long, I think, to piss about.

"It's a pretty hard act to follow, after being in Led Zeppelin … deep down I have this rule, I suppose: only be in the best band in the world. So far, so good."

THEM CROOKED VULTURES

Tuesday (sold out) and Wednesday, 7pm, Hordern Pavilion, 132 849, $105.75

http://www.smh.com.a...3663128662.html

This sounds promising.

There's talk on the TCV forum of a supposed EP being released in January?

Maybe a "special tour" release is in the works?

It's not the first time Jonesy's been involved in one, Zep released an EP here when they visited back in the '70's.

100 quid on eBay!

Here's hoping they play one or two of their "unused" songs.

[The Pagemeister]

TCV will perform at the Roseland in NYC on 2/8 & The Tabernacle in Atlanta on 2/11. Tickets on sale 1/23 @ 10am

[sam_webmaster]

some official banners:

[sam_webmaster]

The supergroup that wants to rescue rock

Patrick Donovan

January 23, 2010

Millions of rock fans around the world were disappointed when Led Zeppelin limited its reunion to one gig at London's 02 Arena in December 2007. But they can credit bassist John Paul Jones' reunion with the biggest-selling band of the 1970s for getting him excited about playing in a rock band again.

Two years later, it turned out to be the catalyst for Them Crooked Vultures, a new supergroup with Jones and two of the biggest names in contemporary rock, Dave Grohl and Josh Homme, which released the best hard-rock album of 2009, and plays one of the year's most anticipated rock shows tonight at Festival Hall.

''It was a really good show,'' says Jones, in Melbourne for the first time since the epic Led Zeppelin show at Kooyong in 1972, of the reunion.

''Jason (late drummer John Bonham's son) was the real star. We had had a really good rehearsal, so it felt like the last night of a two-year tour, but there was no next night.''

The band quickly ruled out any more shows, says Jones, as singer Robert Plant wanted to concentrate on other projects. But they enjoyed it so much that Jones, guitarist Jimmy Page and Jason Bonham started looking to form a new band with a new singer.

''It was going to be a new band, even though people were calling it 'Led Zep without Robert Plant'. But we couldn't find a singer.''

Enter Dave Grohl. The likeable musician, who played drums in Nirvana before fronting his own successful band, Foo Fighters, had been collaborating with Jones, who together with Jimmy Page joined the Foo Fighters on its covers of Zeppelin's Rock and Roll and Ramble On at Wembley Stadium in 2008.

Grohl introduced Jones and Homme at his 40th birthday party in 2009, and three days later the trio jammed together at Homme's Los Angeles studio.

While Grohl, who has multiple Led Zeppelin tattoos despite being born the year the band started, and Homme initially felt some pressure about playing with their hero, they soon overcame any nerves.

''They got over it quite quickly,'' says Jones. ''I knew of Nirvana - they were a great band - and Dave is a fantastic drummer. I was familiar with Josh's work, but I've come to realise what a great guitarist he is. There's no way it couldn't have worked. The songs came naturally. It was a very organic record - we wrote and recorded it all at the same time.''

Jones says that the trio want to fill a void in the once mighty rock genre.

''Music goes in waves, and fashions come and go,'' he says. ''I like every type of music, but there's not much exciting rock'n'roll around at the moment. Many bands are just recycling, and I've heard it all before.

''We wanted to make music we wanted to listen to.''

Jones is more than just a bass player. In the mid 1960s he was an in-demand session musician, working with artists such as Donovan, Jeff Beck, Rod Stewart, Shirley Bassey and Dusty Springfield. As Andrew Oldham's musical director, he arranged the strings for the Rolling Stones song She's a Rainbow. And in recent decades, he has produced albums for REM, the Butthole Surfers and the Datsuns.

On Them Crooked Vultures' eponymous debut album, he plays numerous multi-stringed basses as well as keyboards, piano, keytar, slide guitar, mandolin and sings backing vocals.

''Jones is the master key,'' Josh Homme told The Age.

The band took the unusual step last year of announcing a tour before releasing any music. But such was the excitement about the merging of three of the most influential musicians of the past four decades, it sold out shows around the world.

Jones says there are many similarities between Zeppelin and the Vultures.

''Both bands are very democratic. There's lots of intuition and improvisation and they are both very grown-up bands, with no egos,'' he says. ''It's all about creating the best possible music.''

The chemistry has worked so well, the band is planning to record a second album as soon as it finishes touring. ''We thought it would be a bit much releasing a debut double-album, but there are quite a few more songs from those sessions.''

And touring hasn't changed much in three decades.

''It's much the same, but without quite so many drugs,'' Jones says, and then corrects himself. ''No drugs.''

''The hotels are nicer, that's for sure. And now there's crowd surfing. But the first five rows look exactly the same as they ever did. The most fun is playing. The shows are what it is all about.''

Them Crooked Vultures play Festival Hall tonight.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/entertainment/music/the-supergroup-that-wants-to-rescue-rock/2010/01/22/1263663162283.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1

[tom kid]

The supergroup that wants to rescue rock

''It's much the same, but without quite so many drugs,'' Jones says, and then corrects himself. ''No drugs.''

Haha, this made me laugh.

I'm seeing TCV on Saturday, can't fucking wait!

[SteveAJones]

REVIEW: Them Crooked Vultures Play Festival Hall

Photo Credit: Ros O'Gorman

by Paul Cashmere - January 23 2010

When you go to see Them Crooked Vultures you expect to see Rock Gods and they deliver.

Ten minutes into watching Them Crooked Vultures you will realize just how much better Dave Grohl is as a drummer than as a frontman and guitarist. His Nirvana job really suited him.

Them Crooked Vultures as a band is quite possibly as good as it can get for a live rock and roll band.

How can it not be? John Paul Jones from Led Zeppelin on bass, Josh Homme from Queens of the Stone Age on guitar and vocals, Dave Grohl of Nirvana/Foo Fighters fame on drums and Eleven's Alain Johannes rounded off other instruments. Its pretty damn good.

Despite all their combined heritage, Them Crooked Vultures doesn't fall back on the past. There was no Led Zep, Foo Fighters, Nirvana or Queens of the Stone Age even hinted at. If anything, the closest they come to sounding like any classic rock band is on Scumbag Blues that reminds me of Cream.

This was a 100% Them Crooked Vultures show that included the entire album plus one extra song.

If anything there was a sameness to the songs. Live it is very much focused around Josh Homme and musically they sound most like Queens of the Stone Age.

But hey, you go and you get to see John Paul Fucking Jones, as Homme kept referring to him as.

Josh also made mention of Melbourne as his other home. His wife Brodie Dalle (Spinerette) is from here.

Check out the setlist:

No One Loves Me & Neither Do I

Dead End Friends

Scumbag Blues

Elephants

Highway One

New Fang

Gunman

Bandoliers

Mind Eraser, No Chaser

Caligulove

Interlude With Ludes

Spinning In Daffodils

Reptiles

Warsaw or The First Breath You Take After You Give Up

http://www.undercove...y_Festival_Hall

[kdh]

Mr. Page, the bar has been set for your "return"

[BUCK'EYE' DOC]

Haha, this made me laugh.

I'm seeing TCV on Saturday, can't fucking wait!

Have a great time, everyone, at upcoming TCV concerts!

If you get upfront near the stage, I would recommend using ear protection, as it is VERY LOUD.

[ro_a]

Have a great time, everyone, at upcoming TCV concerts!

If you get upfront near the stage, I would recommend using ear protection, as it is VERY LOUD.

true story.

[The Pagemeister]

Saturday, February 13th

Them Crooked Vultures

From the ACL taping program on September 30, 2009:

It’s rare for Austin City Limits to feature a band that has played only a few live shows together. But when that band is a supergroup made up of some of rock’s finest musicians, it really is no surprise.

Them Crooked Vultures features Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters on drums and backing vocals, Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age on guitar and vocals and John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin fame on bass, keyboards and backing vocals. Together, these musicians represent decades of rock history. As Them Crooked Vultures, the band is just making their mark, having made their public debut earlier this summer during: Lollapalooza.

Despite having played only a few shows, Them Crooked Vultures has been hailed as “one of the rarest things in rock: a supergroup that not only deserves that appellation, but which actually is greater than the sum of its storied parts,” by the Chicago Sun-Times while the Chicago Tribune opined “The term ’supergroup’ gets thrown around way too often in rock, but in the case of Them Crooked Vultures, it applies.”

The band also recently wrapped a string of surprise appearances across Europe and the UK, of which the Times of London remarked “the sound climbed to super-threatening levels and the music new heights of heaviosity… this was a monster on the loose” and the Sun added “there were moments of gentleness too - including some mesmerising piano work from Jones.”

[SteveAJones]

www.theage.com.au

January 25, 2010

Them Crooked Vultures

Festival Hall, January 22

Reviewer Patrick Donovan

IT'S RARE that a band can sell out a show despite never having released any music. But that is what happened with new super group Them Crooked Vultures, such was the track record of its three members.

The CVs of Josh Homme, Dave Grohl and John Paul Jones feature some of the most influential rock bands of the past four decades: Led Zeppelin, Kyuss, Nirvana, Queens of the Stone Age and Foo Fighters.

Homme leads the band, writing and singing all the lyrics and delivering them with loads of strut and swagger.

''Hello Melbourne - you're practically family,'' he said to the rapturous crowd, referring to the local origin of his Australian partner and mother of his child.

It was a joy to see Grohl, who plays guitar and sings for Foo Fighters, behind the drum kit again. He was clearly enjoying playing with the legendary Jones in the most formidable rhythm section in rock today.

The biggest cheers were reserved for Jones. Most of the crowd would not have seen Led Zeppelin when they played Kooyong in 1972, and this was the next best thing.

The three played with the dexterity and intuition of a jazz group. Highlights included the album opener No One Loves Me & Neither Do I, the Cream-esque Scumbag Blues, New Fang, Gunman, Bandoliers and Mind Eraser, No Chaser.

With only one album, the set started thinning out by the end. But there was something special about the bonding of these three very successful musicians who, financially at least, didn't need to start another band, and witnessing them duel and push each other while having the time of their lives.

There was a similar sense of I'm-lucky-to-be-here among the crowd, which knew it may never see this special band again. But just as the parents of those in the audience bragged about being at Kooyong in 1972, they'll tell their kids about this balmy night.

http://www.theage.co...4267939084.html

[SteveAJones]

Them Crooked Vultures Festival Hall, Melbourne, January 22nd, 2010

by Kedd

This show has managed to exceed my lofty expectations of a band that has pulled off such feats so often recently, I’m worried its becoming a habit.

I won’t go into too much detail about the support act, local band Sailors and Swine, cos they weren’t the band I paid to see. They weren’t my cup of tea, but you could see some comparisons with early QOTSA in their music.

When the Vultures descended on stage, the eruption from the crowd was comparable to that of a freight train.

The band kicked off their set with the thunderous drums of No One Loves Me. It amazes me how the explosion section at the songs end is still as effective as when I first heard it.

Dead End Friends: solid and impenetrable, the soundtrack to driving along a lonely highway at night.

Highway 1: Such an emotional song, without needing to be over-the-top. I’m looking forward to a studio release of this song.

Elephants: The first of TCV’s “battleships”, this song is as technically stunning as it is expansive

New Fang: Since the band swapped out Reptiles for Highway 1 in this set, this was the bands sole time to unleash josh’s slide guitar ability.

Scumbag Blues: A personal favourite, and clearly a crowd favourite. Killer solos all-round. Being part of that crowd watching the band go at each other in such a way has left an impression on me that I’ll not likely forget in the near future.

Gunman: Another crowd favourite, the crowd went off during Dave’s drum solo.

Caligulove: The Love Song…. A showcase of JPJ’s ability to pull off a killer keyboard solo with both hands AND both feet.

Alains guitar solo: Good to see the band giving Johannes the spotlight

Bandoliers: Solid song, only hampered by equipment failure in Josh’s guitar lead towards the end of the song. Josh handled it well, however, by cranking his guitar to the max. It became evident to me during this song that Jones has a profound effect on Josh’s attitude. I suspect it may have been a different story if this had happened during a Queens’ gig.

Mind Eraser: The band managed to put the mishap behind them with a swift lead change, and plenty of wah-pedal.

Interlude: Much grog-swigging and Hula dancing, this song was hilarious and psychedelic in equal measure.

Spinning in Daffodils: Much evolved from an already stunning song. It was cool to see the interplay between Josh and Alain during the solo (the “Go get ‘em, boys” bit). Keyboard solo at the end was stellar.

Warsaw: Chaotic jam, JPJ and Josh swapped positions during the “It hurts to be young section”, which was funny cos JPJ then tried to jump up and reach the tall man’s mike, to no avail. The song came to a climax with Josh standing on Dave’s drum riser, using the poles as slides and everyone crowded around the kit.

Someone else on this forum complained about the lack of audience response to the band in the Perth concert. I don’t think everyone who didn’t get into every song was being a poser, they probably just didn’t know the songs, such as Daffodils. I don’t think the band was offended.

Dave himself hinted that he doesn’t come out to play shows for us, he comes out to play for the other band members because they are musicians first, and entertainers second.

I can say with full confidence that I will definitely see these men the next time they’re in Australia (and the next time, and the next time you get the idea). I think that Them Crooked Vultures has spoiled me for any bands I see in the future, however.