The “alternative lifestyle festival tour” will start in mid-July and is expected to play 25 North American dates at nontraditional venues such as racetracks and fairgrounds.

Atlanta, Boston, Denver, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York and Seattle are on the preliminary itinerary and organizers say a full schedule will be announced shortly.

Last month, Pollstar got the lowdown on the fest from Dave Kirby, the booking agent for Slipknot, Sevendust, Coal Chamber, and Mudvayne. Kirby is one of the masterminds behind Tattoo The Earth and he explained why the tour has opted not to play amphitheatres or other, more traditional, concert venues.

“We want to introduce the kids to the next wave of hard bands and to give them some freedom,” he said. “If they want to go to the front of the stage and into a full mosh situation, they can. If they want to move away from that, they can.

“We are looking to play nontraditional venues. We’re looking for flat ground – grass, ideally. It’s really hard to hurt yourself on grass. Amphitheatres are really great for all different types of music but not for this. The seats are bolted into concrete; the concrete is inclined. They use reserved seating. It doesn’t make sense for all those reasons.”

The event will boast two music stages, plus a festival village featuring tattoo, body piercing, and painting booths, all in celebration of “the cultural phenomenon of body art.”

During a July 15 stop in Portland, Ore., Tattoo The Earth will merge with radio station KUFO’s Rockfest, which means Stone Temple Pilots and Primus will join the bill.

The main attraction at Tattoo The Earth may be its unique blend of hard rock, ink, flesh and organized chaos.

“We’ll have a festival environment. We’re carrying the festival elements with us with vendors and the tattoo guys and the piercing people,” Kirby said. “We’re going to be presenting some things onstage that are completely bizarre, that have not been seen before on any of these tours. We’re really going out of our way to do something different.”