Plant has assembled a new backing band, Strange Sensations, culled from former members of The Cure, Portishead, and musicians from the Page/Plant touring outfit. The group consists of bassist Charlie Jones (Page/Plant), guitarist Porl Johnson (The Cure), guitarist Justin Adams (Jah Wobble), drummer Clive Dreamer (Roni Size, Portishead), and keyboardist John Baggot (Portishead). All have reportedly put solo projects on hold to play behind the voice of Led Zeppelin.

Plant and Strange Sensations will warm up for the theatre dates with a quick jaunt across Europe April 22 – 29, then head for Boston for a May 25 North American launch.

Other cities on the itinerary include Philadelphia, Washington, New York City, Toronto, Detroit and Chicago. A July West Coast leg will be announced shortly.

If reports from previous European gigs are any indication, Plant and his Strange Sensations will perform numbers from his solo catalog and some new songs.

Though he had a string of solo hits in the early 1990s from albums like Manic Nirvana and Now and Zen, Plant hasn’t toured the left side of the Atlantic to do his own material since 1993.

In the meantime, he has done tribute shows to the blues masters who shaped his own musical heritage, and performed as a member of the Priory of Brion – a band comprising some of his old school chums from the pre-Zep days.