Features
Up The River
The band is rocking its way across Europe, with a show booked every single day for three weeks. The tour started in late September in the U.K. and will continue through October 15, when the group plays Amsterdam.
Four days later, they’ll be on the grind in the U.S. on their biggest solo headlining tour to date. Starting close to home in Manvel, Texas, the Will Sheff-led band will parade across the country for more than a month at a pace nearly as frenzied as its European schedule.
They’ll wind their way around the entire lower 48, plus a number of Canadian dates, before wrapping back in Texas at Houston’s Proletariat November 20.
“We’re really excited to be going out this time as headliners, having the chance to play long shows with a lot of new songs as well as songs from our back catalogue,” Sheff said in a recent post on the band’s Web site.
The tour’s opening acts include Sub Pop act Band Of Horses October 20-28, Jagjaguwar labelmates Minus Story November 2-11, a solo Charles Bissell of The Wrens November 10-16, and Philadelphia noisemakers Man Man for the last week.
“All these bands are really excellent and I cannot wait to do this tour,” Sheff said.
Just after the tour finishes, Jagjaguwar will release a “companion” CD to the band’s latest album, titled Black Sheep Boy Appendix. The seven-track disc is made up of songs that weren’t finished in time for Black Sheep Boy.
The group finished up the EP on its rare off-days during tours with The Decemberists, Rilo Kiley, and Earlimart this year.
According to a press release, the group held itself to a “self-imposed schedule that left no room for second-guessing any decisions.
“Instead of choosing to keep things simple, though, the band took the opposite approach, trying out any and all production ideas without any time to second-guess them. The resulting work shows the full freedom and playfulness of a band working too fast to wonder and what they’re doing and having too much fun to care.”