Mdou Moctar Adds U.S. Headline Dates For Early ’22

Mdou Moctar
 – Mdou Moctar
2022 dates

Acclaimed Nigeran guitarist and band Mdou Moctar will return to tour the U.S. with newly added headline dates for February and March to go along with dates supporting Parquet Courts. 

Dates include an appearance at Big Ears Festival in Tennessee, as well as headline shows at the 9:30 Club in Washington D.C,  Higher Ground in Burlington, Vt., and more.
Following the new East Coast dates in late February and early March, the band will then head across the Atlantic for a lengthy tour of the UK and Europe in the spring. 
Mdou Moctar, the lanky, left-handed frontman and namesake of the band, is known for bringing fresh take on traditional Tuareg music, with blistering guitar leads and danceable desert anthems that appeal to a wide fanbase and has become a hit on the indie club circuit. The band arrived in the U.S. in September for a headline tour in support of its critically acclaimed Afrique Victime album that became a critics favorite and even showed up on President Barack Obama’s year-end playlist of his favorite songs. 
“I’m happy to have these new fans and to be able to play these new concert halls, that I’m not used to at all,” Mdou Moctar told Pollstar from Niger for a cover story ahead of the 2021 tour. “I’m excited to play in these huge new places. I’ll be looking at the audience and I’m very happy about all of this. It’s definitely a major evolution.”
One initial challenge of bringing Mdou Moctar to the West has been to avoid getting pigeonholed as “world music,” as many African artists are. They’ve largely succeeded.
“This music is wedding music, but it’s super raw, amps turned way past 11, it’s loud, it’s gritty,” says Mikey Coltun, bassist and producer for Mdou Moctar, whose regular commute includes trips to Niger. “We bring up this ‘rock’ thing, and at first, the guys are like, ‘What is rock? This is just what we do.’”
“I’ve been involved with West African groups that have unfortunately been grouped into this ‘world music’ category, and it sucks. It sucks for us and kind of sucks for everyone. We’re all about finding interesting promoters and making sure we’re playing for the right crowd, and it means much more to us to see younger people, a mixed crowd, dancing and such.”
 US TOUR DATES
 
*NEW DATES IN BOLD
2.24.22 – Providence, RI @ Columbus Theatre
2.26.22 – Charlottesville, VA @ Jefferson Theatre
 2.27.22 – Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel %
2.28.22 – Athens, GA @ Georgia Theatre %
3.02.22 ­– Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse %
3.03.22 – Birmingham, AL @ Saturn %
3.04.22 ­– Nashville, TN @ Cannery Ballroom %
3.05.22 – St. Louis, MO @ The Pageant %
3.07.22 – Lawrence, KS @ Liberty Hall %
3.08.22 – Omaha, NE @ The Waiting Room % 
3.10.22 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue %
3.11.22 – Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall Ballroom %
3.12.22 – Chicago, IL @ The Riviera Theatre %
3.13.22 – Detroit, MI @ MOCAD %
3.15.22 – Millvale, PA @ Mr. Smalls Theatre %
3.16.22 – Cleveland, OH @ Agora Theatre
3.17.22 – Toronto, ON @ Queen Elizabeth Theatre %
3.18.22 – Montreal, QC @ Corona Theatre %
3.19.22 – Lyndon, VT @ Northern VT State
3.20.22 – Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground
3.21.22 – Woodstock, NY @ Colony
3.22.22 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
3.24.22 – Winston-Salem, NC @ The Ramkat
3.25.22 – Knoxville, TN @ Big Ears Festival
 
% w/ Parquet Courts
 
 
UK/EUROPE TOUR DATES
 
4.01.22 – Antwerp, BE @ Het Bos
4.02.22 – Brussels, BE @ AB-club SOLD OUT
4.03.22 – Köln, DE @ Bumann
4.04.22 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso Noord 
4.05.22 – Eindhoven, NL @ Effenaar
4.06.22 – Brighton, UK @ Komedia
4.07.22 – Birmingham, UK @ Hare & Hounds
4.08.22 – Dublin, IE @ The Sugar Club
4.09.22 – Belfast, UK @ Ulster Sports Club
4.10.22 – Glasgow, UK @ Drygate
4.11.22 – Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club
4.12.22 – Manchester, UK @ YES
4.14.22 – London, UK @ Earth Theatre
4.15.22 – Roubaix/Lille, FR @ La cave aux Poètes
4.16.22 – Paris, FR @ Le Hasard Ludique
4.17.22 – Nijmegen, NL @ Doornroosje SOLD OUT
4.18.22 – Hamburg, DE @ Molotow
4.19.22 – Copenhagen, DK @ Alice SOLD OUT
4.20.22 – Gothenburg, SE @ Nefertiti
4.21.22 – Oslo, NO @ Blaa
4.22.22 – Stockholm, SE @ Fasching
4.23.22 – Malmö, SE @ Plan B
4.24.22 – Berlin, DE @ Frannz Club
4.25.22 – Leipzig, DE @ UT Connewitz
4.26.22 – Prague, CZ @ Meetfactory
4.27.22 – Linz, AU @ Kapu
4.28.22 – Zurich, CH @ Fabrik
4.29.22 – Mannheim, DE @ Feuerwache
5.01.22 – Oostende, BE @ De Post
8.06.22 – Myslowice, PL @ Off Festival