The Doors News

Music by Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, the Doors, Janis Joplin and Deep Purple, among others, will be performed live by the Mystic Orchestra as part of "Flashback -- the Classic Rock Experience."

The nearly 50-date U.S. arena tour launches Wednesday (August 27) at the Mobile Civic Center in Mobile, Alabama.

Inspired partly by Paul O'Neill's Trans-Siberian Orchestra (TSO), which features a full rock band, a string section, multiple vocalists and a laser/light show, "Flashback" boasts 14 musicians and singers, along with an 11-piece string and horn section. The concert's approximately 30-song set features such classics as Hendrix's "Purple Haze," Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven," Pink Floyd's "Money" and the Doors' "Light My Fire."

The idea to create "Flashback" came after seeing a TSO concert in 2006, veteran promoter and "Flashback" producer Rick Bowen told Billboard.com. "In a lot of ways (TSO has) plowed the ground for us, because we combine rock music and orchestra music together," he said. "We've just taken it to the classic rock platform and tried to play the very best of the music in the era of the late '60s and early '70s."

"Flashback" will feature LED lighting, lasers, pyrotechnics and a 30-foot inflated zeppelin that will hang in the center of arenas. Seven video screens will play vintage video footage by artists whose music is featured during the nearly three-hour show.

The first leg of "Flashback" will visit 6,000- to 25,000-seat U.S. arenas through the beginning of November. Tickets cost $17 to $55.

"We want to build a fan base, have a fair-priced ticket and have the show proliferate with other versions that come out in the future," Bowen said. "We're looking for an eight-to-10-year lifespan on this show, not a one-time go-around."

The second leg of "Flashback" is tentatively scheduled to begin in mid-February 2009 and run through early spring, Bowen said.

Reuters/Billboard