Joe Walsh comes home for New Jersey shows

Joe Walsh is ready to have a great time this summer.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame guitarist is getting back on the road for the "One Hell of a Night" Tour, which will find Walsh and company co-headlining each night with none other than Bad Company — Paul Rodgers, Mick Ralphs and Simon Kirke.

“It’s going to be great," said Walsh.  "I wanted to do something rather than just another tour this summer. I wanted to take it up a notch, and I got wind that Bad Company was going to tour.

"I called Paul and we compared notes and we agreed that together we’d be a great package and together we would be mightier than either of us individually. And so we decided to work it out, and we decided to trade off on who plays first and who closes. So, nobody’s opening for anybody."

The tour, featuring support from Brooklyn-based indie rock outfit Alberta Cross and British singer/songwriter Steve Rodgers, comes to the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel on Saturday, June 11, and the BB&T Pavilion in Camden on Sunday, June 12.

Each night promises the combined might of several decades' worth of stone-cold classic rock classics. Walsh's repertoire boasts gems like "Rocky Mountain Way," "Life's Been Good" and James Gang-era jams like "Walk Away," while Bad Company's radio-friendly hits include "Feel Like Makin' Love," "Shooting Star" and "Can't Get Enough of Your Love."

“It’s just one song everybody knows and loves after another for the whole evening," Walsh said. "And, the thing that’s fun is that at any point any of my crew may join them in their set, or vice-versa, so it opens up the possibility of some great jams.”

Walsh, known the world over for his work as part of the Eagles, is joined on the road this summer by an elite crew of some of his most reliable supporting players. That roster includes his Barnstorm drummer Joe Vitale in addition to guitarists Chad Cromwell and Waddy Wachtel, bassist Larry Young, Jimmy Wallace on keyboards and DJ Clayton Janes, as well as back-up singers Leslie Fuller, Lois Mahalia, Windy Wagner and Rickey Washington.

After the "One Hell of a Night" dates with Bad Company, Walsh and his band will stay on the road for a tour that will hit the Borgata in Atlantic City on July 30.

“I decided I wanted to be really comfortable so I can just play," Walsh said. "So I rounded up a bunch of old friends that I’ve played with before. ... These people pretty much know the music, so rehearsal was a lot more fun than starting and stopping on every song. I’m just totally comfortable, and I think it’s the best band that I’ve ever had.”

However, that doesn't necessarily mean every player will perform on every song; songs by the James Gang, Walsh's Cleveland-native '60s and '70s power trio, require a stripped-down approach, for example.

"There are places where it’s pretty sparse because it needs to be," Walsh said. "Just because you have a bunch of musicians, it doesn’t mean they all have to play. ‘Funk 49’ is better with (just) a drummer and a bass player, and it doesn’t need an organ and so on and so forth. That’s a mistake a lot of headliners make, (using) just a wall of sound every song, and it can lose its effect.”

Walsh has been spending a lot of time in New Jersey lately, and with good reason. While he was born in Wichita, Kansas, in 1947 and spent part of his youth in Columbus, Ohio, and New York City, much of Walsh's formative years were spent in Montclair, graduating from Montclair High School in 1965.

The rocker returned to his alma matter in October, speaking to members of the student body and playing a concert in the school's auditorium to benefit Montclair High and the Montclair Fund for Educational Excellence, an experience Walsh described as "surreal."

“My God, are the kids young," Walsh, 68, said. "Was I ever that young? I guess I was.”

JOE WALSH

WITH: Bad Company, Alberta Cross and Steve Rodgers

WHEN: 6 p.m. Saturday, June 11

WHERE: PNC Bank Arts Center, Exit 116 on the Garden State Parkway, Holmdel

TICKETS: $26 to $169

INFO: 732-203-2500 or www.artscenter.com 

ALSO

WHEN: 6 p.m. Sunday, June 12

WHERE: BB&T Pavilion, 1 Harbour Blvd., Camden

TICKETS: $20 to $140

INFO: 856-365-1300 or www.livenation.com/venues/14115/bb-t-pavilion

AND

WHEN: 8 p.m. Saturday, July 30

WHERE: Borgata Hotel, Casino and Spa, 1 Borgata Way, Atlantic City

TICKETS: $60 to $404

INFO: 609-317-1000 or www.theborgata.com