Rick Springfield, Loverboy teaming in summer
Rick Springfield and Loverboy will team up for a late-summer tour that promises nights full of '80s memories.
"It's like wall-to-wall hits, so it should be a great show for people to see," says Springfield, who'll contribute such '80s favorites as Jessie's Girl, Human Touch and Don't Talk to Strangers.
Loverboy, whose big records included Working for the Weeked and Lovin' Every Minute of It, have seen their profiles raised recently with the band factoring in Radio Shack and Taco Bell commercials.
The Romantics, best known for What I Like About You and Talking in Your Sleep, will join Springfield and Loverboy on most dates, with Donnie Iris and the Cruisers of Ah, Leah! fame appearing on the bill Sept. 11 in Cleveland.
Before the tour starts, Springfield plans to release what he calls a "country-leaning" album. "I've been listening to a lot of country," he says. "Basically, that's where pop music has gone, mostly, to Nashville. A lot of my friends have moved there. I wrote one of the songs with Jay DeMarcus of Rascal Flatts, who once opened for us when they were just starting out.
It's going to be a big summer for Springfield. In addition to the new album and tour, he's part of the second-season cast of True Detective, which returns to HBO in June. He'll also play Meryl Streep's guitarist-boyfriend in the Jonathan Demme-directed Ricki and the Flash, due for an August release.
"Jonathan's a great director, and he definitely knows how to shoot music," Springfield says. "He wanted it to be live, so he wanted an actor who could actually play."
Springfield stays pretty quiet about True Detective. "I can't really say anything about that one, because it's run by the CIA," he says. "Not really, but it might as well be." However, he adds, he expects his role "will surprise a few people."
Springfield is currently in the middle of a "Stripped Down" tour of solo shows. Starting Wednesday, he also will host a five-day fan getaway at Club Med Sandpiper Bay in Port St. Lucie, Fla.
"We sit around the pool playing guitar, we have question-and-answer, we have cocktail parties, we have different sets that the band plays around the property," Springfield says. "Robin Zander from Cheap Trick is the musical guest, and I have some actor friends coming down. It's an incredibly exhausting but amazing five days."
Rick Springfield, Loverboy and The Romantics tour dates are as follows:
August
29 – Delta Classic Chastain Park Amphitheater, Atlanta
30 – St. Augustine Amphitheatre, St. Augustine, Fla.
September
2 – Hard Rock Live, Hollywood, Fla.
4 – Red Hat Amphitheater, Raleigh, N.C.
5 – Uptown Amphitheate, Charlotte
10 – First Merit Bank at Northerly Island, Chicago
11 – Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica, Cleveland (Springfield, Loverboy, Donnie Irish and the Cruisers)
12 – Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa - Event Center, Atlantic City
13 – PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel, N.J.
16 – NYCB Theatre at Westbury, Westbury, N.Y.
17 – Sands Event Center, Bethlehem, Pa.
18 – Freedom Hill, Detroit
20 – PNC Pavilion, Cincinnati
22 – Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion presented by Huntsman, Houston
23 – Zoo Amphitheatre, Oklahoma City (Springfield, Loverboy only)