Jimmy Page says he'll be touring in 2016. According to the former Led Zeppelin guitarist, he's assembled (or will soon assemble) a new live band that's "totally different" from Led Zeppelin.
In February, Page said he was getting "fit" enough to perform again and that he was "warming up on the touchlines." Now, however, Page has confirmed to Classic Rock that he will, in fact, head out on a 2016 tour.
"There will be all sorts of material from different eras," Page said. "Right across the board; that’s the way I’m seeing it. But like I said, there will be surprises. It won’t be entirely what people might be expecting."
Despite the occasional one-off appearance, like last month's performance of "Rock and Roll" with Paul Rodgers and Duff McKagan (and with Foo Fighters a few years ago; see below), Page has been absent from the touring scene. He attributes this to his tiring work reissuing the Led Zeppelin catalog.
"It was a question of having time," he said. "The only way to have time is to shut down and then do what you want to do. I’ve been doing so much Led Zeppelin stuff over quite a number of years now; so it’s not been so easy to think about anything else in the tail end of this year. But OK, next year, bang!"
Stay tuned for updates.