Mike Campbell & the Dirty Knobs Confirm Fall Headlining Tour & Dates With The Who

Mike Campbell & The Dirty Knobs add to their 2022 tour schedule, confirming a run of headline fall dates as well as shows supporting The Who.

Kicking off on August 28 in Toronto, the new headline tour includes performances at Port Chester's Capitol Theatre, Atlanta's Variety Playhouse and San Francisco's The Fillmore while The Who dates feature a performance at Los Angeles' Hollywood Bowl in November. Full tour routing can be found below.

The new dates follow the band's sold-out first ever tour this spring and their ongoing summer run opening for Chris Stapleton at arenas and amphitheaters across the country, including a performance Chicago's Wrigley Field.

"The Dirty Knobs and I could not be more thrilled to be opening some shows for The Who this fall," says Campbell. "Playing with them at the Hollywood Bowl will be especially poignant for me, since the last time I played there was with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, a week before Tom's passing. The Who have always been a huge inspiration for me as a musician. It is a huge honor to have the opportunity to do the shows with them. It will be a high point of my life."

The band's tour is in support of the group's new album External Combustion, which is out now on BMG. The new music showcases the band's evolution, pushing the band to a new level, jumping ahead in vision and drive, proving the first record was no one-shot deal.

Co-produced by Campbell and George Drakoulias (The Black Crowes, The Jayhawks), the 11-track album was recorded at Campbell's home studio, Hocus Pocus Recorders in Los Angeles. External Combustion also features Margo Price and Ian Hunter as well as piano from fellow Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers founding member Benmont Tench on "Lightning Boogie." Although Campbell wrote most of the songs on the new album within the past year, two of the tracks had been written in the 90's, only to be rediscovered in Campbell's extensive vault of unreleased compositions.

The Dirty Knobs came together nearly two decades ago, after Campbell met guitarist Jason Sinay (Neil Diamond, Ivan Neville) at a session and liked the way their guitars sounded together. What began as a less structured project for Campbell in between The Heartbreakers' touring became something else altogether when they added the rhythm section of bassist Lance Morrison (Don Henley) and drummer Matt Laug (Slash, Alanis Morissette).

What followed was several years of intimate, almost incognito, performances in the band's home base of Los Angeles and surrounding Southern California cities. After all those years playing together, it became clear The Dirty Knobs should take what they were doing to the next level. Following the passing of Campbell's longtime compatriot, friend and bandmate Tom Petty and his performances with Fleetwood Mac on their 2018-2019 World Tour, The Dirty Knobs released their album Wreckless Abandon in 2020 to widespread praise.