Spoon to Headline NPR’s SXSW Bash

Latest installment in a tradition that for the past couple of years has featured, the Decemberists, R.E.M., Avett Brothers and others.

By Blurt Staff

 NPR Music announced this morning its plans to present, broadcast and webcast the opening night showcase of this year's SXSW Music & Media Conference, which takes place in Austin (duh) March 17-20. NPR has the mighty Spoon set to headline at Stubbs' amphitheatre on Wednesday, March 17 - and this will be the official kickoff of Spoon's U.S. concert tour in support of its forthcoming album, Transference, which drops next week, on Jan. 19, courtesy Merge. At SXSW, the four-member band will have just returned to its native Austin, following a European tour. The concert at Stubbs will mark the first U.S. performance of material from Spoon's new album.

The other bands on the bill are to be announced shortly.

NPR Music is offering an advance stream of Transference, one week before its release, now through January 18 as part of the "Exclusive First Listen" series. Hear the entire album for free at www.npr.org/firstlisten.

"The music of Spoon has always been an exercise in careful restraint," says NPR Music producer Robin Hilton. "And Transference is the band's tightest, most flawlessly executed album to date."

As with the last couple of years, NPR Music will live webcast and broadcast the entire showcase from Stubbs. The concert will be streamed live, podcast and archived at www.npr.org/sxsw, and will be available for broadcast on NPR Member stations across the country, including live on KUT in Austin.  NPR Music's broadcast and webcast of the concert will be anchored by Bob Boilen, host and creator of All Songs Considered and its Live in Concert series; NPR Music "Monitor Mix" blogger Carrie Brownstein; and David Brown, host of Texas Music Matters on KUT.

NPR Music is also partnering with five NPR Member stations - KUT Austin, WFUV New York, WXPN Philadelphia, KEXP Seattle and The Current from Minnesota Public Radio - to offer extensive coverage of the festival on-air and online.

Tour Dates:

17-Mar  Stubbs                          Austin, TX
18-Mar  Republic                        New Orleans, LA
19-Mar  Workplay Soundstage     Birmingham, AL
20-Mar  Tabernacle                     Atlanta, GA
22-Mar  9:30 Club                      Washington, DC
23-Mar  9:30 Club                      Washington, DC
24-Mar  The National                  Richmond, VA
26-Mar  Radio City Music Hall    New York, NY
27-Mar  House of Blues               Boston, MA, USA
29-Mar  Sound Academy             Toronto, ON
30-Mar  Royal Oak Music TheatreRoyal Oak, MI
1-Apr    Aragon Ballroom           Chicago, IL
2-Apr    First Avenue                  Minneapolis, MN
3-Apr    First Avenue                  Minneapolis, MN
5-Apr    Ogden Theatre               Denver, CO
6-Apr    Ogden Theatre               Denver, CO
7-Apr    In the Venue                  Salt Lake City, UT
9-Apr    Moore Theatre               Seattle, WA
10-Apr  Moore Theatre               Seattle, WA
11-Apr  Orpheum Theatre           Vancouver, BC
13-Apr  Fox Theater                   Oakland, CA
 
*Deerhunter direct support on all dates.
*New Orleans - Royal Oak w/ The Strange Boys
*Chicago - Oakland w/ Micachu & the Shape

[Photo Credit: Autumn DeWilde]