Starting in Des Moines on July 30 at Wooly’s and runs through August 16th at the Bluebird Theater in Denver, Eric Johnson has announced a summer tour in support of his new album
Europe Live. Recorded in venues across Johnson’s tour of Europe, Mascot Label Group’s Provogue Records will release
Europe Live on June 24, 2014.
Confirmed dates:
Jul 30 Des Moines, IA Wooly’s
Jul 31 Milwaukee, WI Turner Hall
Aug 01 St. Charles, IL Arcada Theater
Aug 02 Columbus, OH Woodlands Park Street Saloon
Aug 03 Kent, OH Kent Stage
Aug 05 Cincinnati, OH Taft Ballroom
Aug 06 Rochester Hills, MI Meadow Brook
Aug 07 Grand Rapids, MI Intersection
Aug 08 Evanston, IL SPACE
Aug 10 Minneapolis, MN Cedar
Aug 12 Kansas City, MO Knuckleheads
Aug 13 Omaha, NE Waiting Room
Aug 14 Fort Collins, CO Aggie
Aug 15 Boulder, CO Fox Theatre
Aug 16 Denver, CO Bluebird Theater
Europe Live's 14 tracks draw from throughout Johnson's career and include two new compositions: The mesmeric "Intro" that opens the set, and the rollicking rocker "Evinrude Fever" (that alludes to his love for water skiing and boating). His Grammy-winning instrumental "Cliffs of Dover" and Grammy nominated "Zap" are performed with fresh and vigorous energy, and he shows his ever-deepening skills as a singer on such numbers as his soaring, blues-tinged salute to his hometown, "Austin," and the airy and glistening "40 Mile Town." Johnson's lifelong love of jazz and more recent forays into playing it emerges on his stunning nine-and-a-half minute interpretation of John Coltrane's "Mr. P.C." on which bassist Chris Maresh and drummer Wayne Salzmann also step out with power. The song selection ranges from an acoustic guitar rendition of "A Song For Life" which he initially cut on his debut studio album to the ferociously funky "Fatdaddy" from his most recent release, Up Close. Johnson celebrates his side-project Alien Love Child with the hard-driving rock workout "Zenland," and the eleven-and-a-half minute multimodal suite "Last House On The Block." Originally released in 1996, the fan favorite "Manhattan" shines, while a gloriously cinematic rearrangement of "When the Sun Meets the Sky," titled "Sun Reprise" closes the set.