"If you asked me a year ago, I wasn't playing the guitar so much as I ought to," he said, "because I was spending so much time listening and completing the projects we're on now. But I am playing the guitar � because I am starting to get myself ready for the idea of doing something next year. In the same way that I approached the O2 [show], you get yourself up to speed�."

Page declined to specify who he has in mind as backing musicians. "I have to finish all the stuff I'm doing at the moment, all the promo and all of that, and then I'll do some serious rehearsing �," he said. "[I'll] reveal my hand at a later date � [form a band) next year."

The veteran guitarist did hint that his set list would combine old and new material. "I've got a lot of music that I'm known for," he said. "It goes back to still being a teenager. So I've got a lot. And I've got new material, that's the key to it, which will bring new surprises."