He used to be known as “The Face”—all innocence with tumbling blond hair that rivaled Farrah Fawcett’s tresses. Now, with hardly any on top, Peter Frampton is still playing fab guitar and gearing up for the first truly career-spanning set list of his life. The Frampton Comes Alive! album was one of the most played and the most purchased album of 1976. For those doing the math, 2011 marks the 35th anniversary. So, Frampton is kicking off his Frampton Comes Alive 35th Anniversary Tour on June 15, staying on the road through a good chunk of October. A gem of a venue, the Borgata’s Music Box will host him on June 24—and it’s a Friday, yay!
And what a show it will be—three hours’ worth. Although Frampton tours frequently and is expected, obviously, to play some hits off FCA!, he’ll play everything off FCA! on this tour, track for track, just as they are laid out on the double album. Plus, he’ll tackle his other major works from the early days of Humble Pie (“I Don’t Need No Doctor”), the band he helped found as a teenager, along with the most recent Fingerprints (instrumental) and Thank You Mr Churchill (autobiographical) albums.
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The only way, says Frampton, that he’d be able to accomplish this wide variety of career points on the road is to have a touring band so accomplished that they can handle anything he throws their way. Stanley Sheldon, bassist from the heady mid- to late-’70s, joins Frampton on tour this time, back after many years. Rounding out the rest of the band are Rob Arthur on keyboards, guitar and vocals, with Adam Lester on guitar and Dan Wojciechowski on drums. The old and the new click very well. Frampton also likes to mix things up here and there, too—although he’ll stay fairly faithful to the classic arrangements of FCA!, he changes up “Show Me the Way” a bit every time he plays it.
There’s a lot of special promotion surrounding this most celebrated of anniversaries, so look for vintage Frampton T-shirts, special deluxe editions, rare photos and all that at the merchandise table. Yes, this ’70s icon is still very much alive and, even though the hair may be gone, his hands still work up and down the frets of his Les Paul.
SHOW INFO
When: June 24, 9 p.m. (Doors open 8 p.m.)
Where: The Music Box at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, 1 Borgata Way, Atlantic City, N.J. 08401
Tickets: $75 and $85. Visit theborgata.com.
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