The Paradise Artists agent had just announced a reformation of Eric Burdon & WAR for a one-off performance April 21 at London’s Royal Albert Hall. Even though the booking agent side of Monot’s brain can hype any event as if it’s the second coming of Elvis, it’s the music lover’s side of all that grey matter that has Monot acting like a kid on Christmas Eve.

“I’ve been representing Eric for a number of years now, and we’ve really taken him to another level,” Monot told Pollstar. “He’s doing just select shows here in the States and around the world, more back to his blues, back to his roots.

“He’d go out and do all the music from The Animals, which is world-renowned, world rock stuff. But at one point he said he was becoming a parody of himself. So he went back a little bit into his blues roots, still doing all the hits. He loves his music, no doubt about it. But when he got back into his blues mood, we threw it out there. ‘Hey, what about it?’

“And Steve Homer from Live Nation just glommed on the idea, and we said, ‘In the tradition of some of the reunions that are taking place, let’s talk to Eric and WAR about putting it back together.'”

Already a worldwide success ever since performing with The Animals in the 1960s, Burdon first saw the musicians that would become WAR in a Los Angeles nightclub in 1969. On the lookout for something new, Burdon jammed with his new-found buddies and quickly realized they were just what he was looking for.

It wasn’t long before the newly christened Eric Burdon & WAR was a concert favorite even before the band had released anything on vinyl. Then came the release of the band’s debut album – Eric Burdon Declares WAR!, and the band grew even bigger. Especially with the success of the band’s single, “Spill The Wine.”

In addition to the success, Eric Burdon & WAR occupy a rather unique niche in rock history.

“The last show in ‘71, they went through Europe and just tore it up,” Monot said. “‘Spill The Wine’ was huge, and they did the ‘Hyde Park’ series, and they did a week in London at Ronnie Scotts.

“The day before Jimi Hendrix passed away, Jimi came and jammed with them. Jimi and Eric were very close. Then, of course, we lost Hendrix the following night.”

But the relationship between Burdon and WAR was destined to be short-lived. After another album, The Black-Man’s Burdon, plus extensive touring, Burdon left the band. The last Eric Burdon & WAR show took place in 1971, only two years after Burdon had walked into an L.A. club and spotted his future bandmates.

Of course, WAR has been recording and touring ever since Burdon left. But the WAR that joins Burdon onstage April 21 at the Royal Albert Hall won’t be the exact same WAR that Burdon jammed with in that L.A. nightclub all those years ago.

That’s because WAR has experienced many changes in the past 39 years. However, Lonnie Jordan, the only artist that’s been in every incarnation of the band and is the group’s leader, will be there along with today’s WAR, ready to recreate the old EB&W groove as well as some seat-of-the-pants improvisation whenever the mood strikes.

“Last year I was down at San Diego State Fair with Eric, and he said to me, ‘What nobody realized about the band, [was that] WAR probably was one of the original jam bands. None of it was scripted.’

“Here’s a guy [Burdon] from the tough neighborhoods of Newcastle in the U.K., who comes over and hooks up with this band in Los Angeles. He came out, I think, a little disenfranchised from the pop scene. Animals were a huge, worldwide phenomena, then he came back in the late ‘60s, said, ‘OK, I’ve done all that,’ and discovered these guys. It allowed him a little more freeform relative to his music.”

So far only the basics, meaning Eric Burdon & WAR appearing at the Royal Albert on April 21, is carved in stone, and many details about the special night are still being hammered out.

“Nothing has been announced yet,” Monot said when asked about who might also appear. “Obviously, there’s going to be quite a bit of attention paid to it, and there will be some special guests on stage, but we’re not at liberty to announce that at this point.”

Almost sneaking in under the radar in the publicity surrounding the Eric Burdon & WAR reunion is record producer / Avenue Records president Jerry Goldstein’s involvement. Goldstein, whose relationship with Burdon goes back to the ‘60s, had seen the original WAR musicians gigging at a Los Angeles nightclub and thought Burdon would be interested. He brought Burdon to the club, and the rest, as they say, is history.

In tandem with the one-night-only event, Warner Bros. / Rhino is re-releasing the Eric Burdon & WAR albums. Eric Burdon Declares WAR! and Black-Man’s Burdon will be re-released on March 24. The1976 compilation Love Is All Around will be re-released on March 31. Subsequent albums will be released through April.

Along with the re-releases, Monot also mentioned there will be a DVD of the April 21 concert. What’s more, in the days leading up to the event, Burdon, Jordan and company will rehearse and might even do some surprise gigs to oil up their improvisational chops.

“This has been one step at a time,” Monot said. “We’re just putting it all together. Just like when WAR formed up before, there are so many similarities. Look at the times we’re in.

“Go back to ‘71. Bogged down in a war. This was the very reason the band formed. The peace movement, that’s why they called it ‘WAR.’ They wanted to challenge people with a multi-racial, a very controversial titling, in a time of war. The times are so similar. It’s haunting.”