Decemberists May-June Tour Set

Plan to cap it off with a Bonnaoroo blowout...

By Blurt Staff

In addition to their high-profile, album-unveiling SXSW show set for March 18 in Austin, the Decemberists have now announced the first leg of their Spring 2009 North American tour in support of The Hazards of Love, their ambitious new album to be released by Capitol Records on March 24th. The 16-date run will kick off May 19th at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles, and include a June 10th performance at Radio City Music Hall in New York, as well as a set at the 2009 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Tennessee.

On tour, The Decemberists will present a full performance of the album, a 17-song suite that tells the tale of a woman named Margaret who is ravaged by a shape-shifting animal; her lover, William; a forest queen; and a cold-blooded, lascivious rake. Joining the band on stage will be Lavender Diamond's Becky Stark and My Brightest Diamond's Shara Worden who deliver the lead vocals for the female characters. The band announced last week that they will give the debut live performance of The Hazards of Love when they headline NPR Music's South by Southwest showcase at Stubbs in Austin on March 18th.

With their fifth full-length album, the Portland-based quintet of Colin Meloy, Chris Funk, Jenny Conlee, Nate Query and John Moen solidifies its standing as one of the most innovative creative forces in music today. In an age when singles rule and the death of the album has been pronounced by many, The Decemberists have fashioned an anomaly: a record that demands to be listened to from start to finish and reveals more with each subsequent play. NPR All Songs Considered has already declared it an "epic adventure," while Rolling Stone recently wrote that "[The] Hazards of Love is The Decemberists' full-on classic-rock move, with pretty Zep-style fingerpicking punctuated by crushing stoner-metal lurches."

The Decemberists Tour Dates:

May 19            Hollywood Palladium                          Los Angeles, CA

May 20            Fox Theatre                                         Oakland, CA

May 21            McDonald Theater                               Eugene, OR

May 24            Wilma Theatre                         Missoula, MT

May 26            Fillmore Auditorium                            Denver, CO

May 27            Uptown Theater                                   Kansas City, MO

May 29            Riverside Theater                                 Milwaukee, WI

May 31            The Pageant                                         St. Louis, MO

June 1              Lifestyle Communities Pavilion           Columbus, OH

June 3              Tabernacle                                           Atlanta, GA

June 4              Memorial Auditorium                          Raleigh, NC

June 5              The National                                        Richmond, VA

June 6              Tower Theatre                         Upper Darby, PA

June 9              Bank of America Pavillion                  Boston, MA

June 10            Radio City Music Hall                         New York, NY

June 11-14       Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival          Manchester, TN