The Shins Kick Touring Plans Into Overdrive

James Mercer of The Shins
AP Photo
– James Mercer of The Shins
Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival, Empire Polo Field, Indio, Calif.

The band is promoting its Heartworms album, which just came out last month. Pitchfork writes of the album: “Although Heartworms never quite conjures the magic of those first couple Shins albums, it’s further proof that they weren’t a fluke. [vocalist and guitarist James Mercer] always did, and still does, know how to write a song that sticks.”
The band also recently recorded a cover of the classic tune “A Taste of Honey” for Resistance Radio: The Man In The High Castle Album produced by Sam Cohen and Danger Mouse. That project features 18 songs and is associated with the Amazon Studios live action series “The Man In The High Castle,” which imagines what the world would be like if the Allied forces had lost World War II, based on the Phillip K. Dick novel.
Here’s a trailer for the series:

The Shins are all over North America for most of the year, with festival stops at events like Sasquatch!, Bunbury, Firefly, Arroyo Seco, Winnipeg Folk, 80/35, Wayhome, and Lollapalooza. The headline dates are scattered between those and the former Pollstar HotStar also has a run in Europe planned in August.
The last four nights in the plan right now are “with very special guests Spoon” and those tickets go on sale April 14.
Here is the itinerary:
April 20 – Raleigh, N.C., The Ritz
April 21 – Nashville, Tenn., Vanderbilt University (Rites Of Spring)
April 22 – North Charleston, S.C., Riverfront Park (High Water Festival)
April 23 – North Charleston, S.C., Riverfront Park
May 13 – Saint Petersburg, Fla., Jannus Live
May 14 – Atlanta, Ga., Centennial Olympic Park (Shaky Knees Music Festival)
May 16 – Norfolk, Va., The NorVa
May 17 – Richmond, Va., The National
May 19 – St. Louis, Mo., The Pageant
May 20 – Council Bluffs, Iowa, Harrah’s Council Bluffs – Stir Concert Cove
May 21 – Moorhead, Minn., Bluestem Center For The Arts
May 24 – Calgary, Alberta, MacEwan Hall
May 27 – Vancouver, British Columbia, Queen Elizabeth Theatre
May 28 – Quincy, Wash., Gorge Amphitheatre (Sasquatch! Music Festival)
May 29 – Boise, Idaho, Memorial Stadium
June 1 – Kansas City, Mo., Arvest Bank Theatre At The Midland
June 2 – Cincinnati, Ohio, Sawyer Point (Bunbury Music Festival)
June 3 – Memphis, Tenn., Minglewood Hall
June 4 – Houston, Texas, Eleanor Tinsley Park (Free Press Summer Fest)
June 10 – Anchorage, Alaska, Moose’s Tooth Pub
June 15 – Brooklyn, N.Y., Prospect Park Bandshell (Celebrate Brooklyn! Perf. Arts Fest)
June 17 – Cooperstown, N.Y., Brewery Ommegang
June 18 – Dover, Del., Dover International Speedway (Firefly Music Festival)
June 21 – Troutdale, Ore., McMenamins Edgefield Amphitheater
June 22 – Ogden, Utah, Ogden Amphitheater
June 23 – Las Vegas, Nev., The Chelsea At The Cosmopolitan
June 25 – Pasadena, Calif., Brookside Golf Course (Arroyo Seco Weekend)
July 6 – Winnipeg, Manitoba, Birds Hill Park (Winnipeg Folk Festival)
July 7 – Minneapolis, Minn., Basilica St. Mary (Basilica Block Party)
July 8 – Des Moines, Iowa, Western Gateway Park (80/35)
July 11 – Niagara Falls, N.Y., Rapids Theatre
July 12 – Ottawa, Ontario, Lebreton Flats Park (RBC Bluesfest)
July 28 – Oro-Medonte, Ontario, Burl’s Creek Event Grounds (Wayhome Music And Arts Festival)
July 29 – Cleveland, Ohio, Agora Theatre
July 30 – Burlington, Vt., Waterfront Park (Lake Champlain Maritime Festival)
Aug. 1 – Pittsburgh, Pa., Stage AE     
Aug. 2 – Boston, Mass., House Of Blues Boston
Aug. 6 – Chicago, Ill., Grant Park (Lollapalooza)
Aug. 11 – Oslo, Norway, Toyenparken (Oya Festival)
Aug. 13 – Copenhagen, Denmark, VEGA House Of Music
Aug. 14 – Hamburg, Germany, Grosse Freiheit 36
Aug. 15 – Berlin, Germany, Huxleys Neue Welt
Aug. 16 – Cologne, Germany, Live Music Hall
Aug. 18 – Hasselt, Belgium, Kempische Steenweg (Pukkelpop Festival)
Aug. 22 – Manchester, England, Manchester Academy
Aug. 23 – Nottingham, England, Rock City
Sep. 30 – Berkeley, Calif., Greek Theatre At UC Berkeley (w/ Spoon)
Oct. 1 – San Diego, Calif., Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre (w/ Spoon)
Oct. 3 – Phoenix, Ariz., Comerica Theatre (w/ Spoon)
Oct. 5 – Morrison, Colo., Red Rocks Amphitheatre (w/ Spoon)
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