Modesto-bound Frampton’s passions are still alive

When you’re a bona fide rock god, you usually get what you want.

These days for Peter Frampton, it’s not necessarily wild parties or lavish expenses he wants. Instead, one of the most rock ’n’ roll recent requests the 65-year-old superstar has is for concerts without the constant, ceaseless flashing of cellphones and cameras.

Last summer, Frampton made headlines when he chucked the phone of a rude patron into the crowd. He said he was taking a stand for himself and other artists who have become accustomed to seeing their fans’ faces from the stage obscured by a sea of smartphones. Now the singer and guitarist imposes a three-song photo rule – and asks his audiences to put their phones away after that.

“I think it’s fair. Look, I wouldn’t want to go to a show and not take a picture. I couldn’t begrudge that,” Frampton said in a phone interview from his home base in Nashville. “But I think it’s a better show if you don’t hold up your phones all the time.

“There are very few artists who don’t mind that. I come to perform for them, not for them as semiprofessional photographers. And really, unless you’re right up at the front, there’s horrible sound and it looks disgusting. So what’s the point? There are enough YouTube videos of me doing ‘Baby, I Love Your Way’ and ‘Do You Feel Like We Do’ already.”

Of course, it should come as no surprise that the man behind one of the most popular live albums of all time, 1976’s “Frampton Comes Alive!” would be passionate about his performances. And he shows no signs of slowing down with both solo shows and a co-headlining tour with Cheap Trick planned for this summer.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee comes to play a sold-out solo show at the Gallo Center for the Arts on Wednesday, June 3.

Frampton plays 50 to 60 dates a year, spending about three months on the road. He said he likes to mix up his solo and double-bill shows because he enjoys collaborating with other acts. Though he’s been performing since he was 16 (and co-founded rock’s first supergroup, Humble Pie, at age 18), Frampton said he still gets a thrill each time he steps on stage.

“You know, normally I write, I practice, I record, I redo it. It’s a process, then I redo that. Then you go rehearse with the band. But when you go on the road, it’s freedom,” he said. “It’s like, OK, there’s no one behind the glass saying, ‘Try that very heartfelt vocal one more time.’ There is only one take. The audience is there. Yes, there are mistakes, but out of mistakes comes a vibe. No one hears the little ones anyway. Live, you are going for broke. I enjoy that because it’s something I can’t do without that audience. I enjoy playing for them. Every night is different, that’s what I love about it.”

Aside from his live work, Frampton has kept busy with a variety of projects. Last year, he released the album “Hummingbird in a Box,” which was inspired by his work with the Cincinnati Ballet. Though he now lives in Nashville, Frampton called Cincinnati home for almost 20 years. While living there, he collaborated with the ballet, which choreographed a pas de deux to his music. After he was asked to come down to see a rehearsal, the idea for the project arose.

“I went down there and they asked me if I would ever consider doing anything else with ballet, like actually playing live behind them,” he said. “I said that would be fantastic. And I said, ‘It’s three acts. Why don’t we start with some old stuff, end with some old stuff and in between let me write 25 minutes of new music?’ I said I’d love the challenge.”

This fall, Frampton plans to embark on yet another new musical experience – an acoustic tour and album. His manager Ken Levitan came up with the stripped-down concept, which would be the artist’s first with just an acoustic guitar and his voice.

“We’ll redo old things that people know, but do them as if you just finished writing them,” he said. “It’s very simple, but I’m used to doing them with the band. They are so ingrained in my system, my body knows how to do them that way. Normally, you can wind me up, put me on and I can do all the old numbers one after another. But when I think about it, and it’s just acoustic guitar – no drums, no bass, no nothing, no harmonies (trails off laughing). So now I’m just working on getting the right take. ”

This story was originally published May 27, 2015 at 5:00 PM with the headline "Modesto-bound Frampton’s passions are still alive."