Synthpop survivor Thomas Dolby will embark on a 24-date North American tour this spring with his Time Capsule in tow: a chrome- and brass-plated road trailer that “resembles a Jules Verne/HG Wells-inspired time-travel machine” outfitted with a video studio so fans can upload “a personal video message to the future.”
Supporting last year’s A Map of the Floating City, the Time Capsule Tour opens March 16 at Austin’s South By Southwest Music Conference, and runs through April 17 in Los Angeles. Along the way, Dolby will head north for Canadian concerts in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver.
At each show, the Time Capsule trailer will be parked outside the venue and at local TV/radio stations with a goal of capturing “hundreds of 30-second clips over the course of the tour, assembling them into an online video montage.” The clips will be uploaded to Dolby’s new Time-Capsule.tv channel on YouTube, and the most-viewed videos will win prizes.
Dolby says in a news release: “If you had 30 seconds to explain to an alien visitor what went wrong with our civilization, what would you say? Our species may not be around on this planet much longer, so you might as well leave a welcome message for the next guys!”
Thomas Dolby tour dates:
March 16: South By South West, Austin, TX
March 17: Tipitinas, New Orleans, LA
March 18: Social, Orlando, FL
March 19: Workplay (Seated), Birmingham, AL
March 20: The Loft, Atlanta, GA
March 21: Handlebar, Greenville, SC
March 23: Ram’s Head, Annapolis, MD
March 24: World Café, Philadelphia, PA
March 25: Birchmere, Alexandira, VA
March 28: Sellersville Theater, Sellersville, PA
March 29: Canal Room, New York, NY
March 30: Iron Horse, Northampton, MA
March 31: Ridgefield Playhouse, Ridgefield, CT
April 1: L’Astral, Montreal, QC
April 2: Mod Club, Toronto, ON
April 4: Royal Oak, Detroit, MI
April 5: Park West, Chicago, IL
April 6: Cedar Cultural Center, Minneapolis, MI
April 10: Rio Theatre, Vancouver, BC
April 11: Showbox at the Market, Seattle, WA
April 13: Red Devil Lounge, San Francisco, CA
April 14: Harlows, Sacramento, CA
April 16: Anthology, San Diego, CA
April 17: Largo, Los Angeles, CA
