Echo & The Bunnymen today announced dates for a brief U.S. tour in November in support of its forthcoming 10th album, The Fountain, which is set to be released Oct. 12.
The band — which is grieving last week’s death of former keyboard player Jake Drake-Brockman — already is crossing the pond in late October to play 1984’s classic Ocean Rain in its entirety at concerts in Toronto, Los Angeles and Oakland, Calif. Now Ian McCulloch and Co. will return for eight mostly East Coast dates in support of The Fountain, beginning Nov. 15.
The Bunnymen are previewing The Fountain by streaming first single “Think I Need it To” — due out Sept. 28 — and “Do You Know Who I Am,” “Proxy” and “Drivetime” at Bunnymen.com and the band’s MySpace. In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, McCulloch talks up the new tunes, likening the overall record to the band’s now-30-year-old debut, Crocodiles.
“To me, the new album sounds like a debut album. It’s thumping and cheeky and there’s a lot of spite and condescension too. ‘The Idolness Of Gods’ is a poem with a tune and it’s possibly the greatest song I’ve ever written. It’s our best album since What Are You Gonna Do With Your Life? No actually, I’m gonna say it’s the best album since Ocean Rain.”
Tickets for the band’s November tour begin going on sale Friday.
See full tour dates and video after the jump…
Echo & The Bunnymen North American tour dates:
Oct. 20: Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Toronto (Ocean Rain)
Oct. 22: Fox Theatre, Oakland, Calif. (Ocean Rain)
Oct. 24: Nokia Theatre, Los Angeles, Calif. (Ocean Rain)
Nov. 15: Masquerade, Atlanta, GA
Nov. 17: Black Cat, Washington, DC
Nov. 18: State College, Pittsburgh, PA
Nov. 20: Kewsick Theatre, Glenside, PA
Nov. 21: StageOne, Fairfield, CT
Nov. 22: Hammerstein Ballroom, New York, NY
Nov. 23: House of Blues, Boston, MA
Nov. 25: Metro, Chicago, IL
Video: Echo & The Bunnymen, “Think I Need To/Nothing Lasts Forever,” 3/21/09
PREVIOUSLY ON SLICING UP EYEBALLS:
- Echo & The Bunnymen keyboard player Jake Brockman, 1956-2009
- Echo & The Bunnymen bring ‘Ocean Rain’ to U.S., release ‘The Fountain’ in October
- Ian McCulloch, Martin Gore lend vocals to third Nouvelle Vague album
- ‘Urgh! A Music War’ finally released on DVD
The November 18th State College event is actually at The State Theatre in the town of State College, PA. The event is NOT NOT NOT in Pittsburgh!
(You’ve no idea how happy this makes me!)