A group of Israeli human rights activists have asked the Pixies to cancel their June 9 concert in Tel Aviv to protest ‘the military occupation the Palestinian people have been living under,’ urging the reunited band to ‘refuse to perform in Israel until there is freedom here.’

Norwegian pop outfit a-ha today doubled the number of North American cities it’ll hit on its “Ending on a High Note” farewell tour, announcing concerts in Toronto on May 10 and Chicago on May 13.

John Lydon with Public Image Ltd.

John Lydon will take the reformed Public Image Ltd. on its first North American tour in 18 years this spring, today announcing a 16-date club tour to follow the band’s performance at the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival.

Echo & The Bunnymen today unveiled a 10-date North American tour in April and May that will follow the band’s appearance at the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival — a run of dates that serves as a make-up for the November trek derailed by the group’s much-publicized IRS issues.

The reunited Godfathers debuted their first new songs — “I Can’t Sleep Tonight” and “Back Into the Future” — in 15 years at last weekend’s St. Valentine’s Day Massacre concert in London.

The Dream Syndicate’s long-out-of-print sophomore album ‘Medicine Show’ will be reissued this spring in remastered and expanded form, and to mark the occasion, former frontman Steve Wynn will perform the record and its predecessor, ‘The Days of Wine and Roses,’ in their entirety at a pair of Atlanta concerts.

U2 today announced that Lenny Kravitz, The Fray and Interpol will open most of the band’s 360° Tour stadium concerts in North America this summer when the massive trek returns for a second round.

Echo & The Bunnymen are set to unveil a “large” post-Coachella tour of the U.S. next week, although several dates — April 18 in Reno, April 19 in San Francisco and May 1 in New York City — already have emerged.

Australian rockers The Church will return to North America in April and May for “An Intimate Space,” a special 30th anniversary tour that will find the band performing unplugged — and running through three decades’ worth of material in reverse chronological order.

The Pet Shop Boys not only released their new Pandemonium live CD/DVD package in the UK this week — just two months after it was filmed in London — but the duo also announced the concert film’s namesake tour will play a five-date encore in England this summer.

U2 this morning announced a “final” concert on this summer’s second North American leg of its massive 360° Tour: June 3 in Salt Lake City, a date that now becomes the opening night of the Bono and Co.’s 2010 return to the U.S.

Brit punk jokesters The Toy Dolls have begun work on their 12th studio album — the follow-up to 2004’s no-longer-accurately titled Our Last Album? — and have plotted initial spring and summer dates in Europe and Russia for a planned 30th anniversary tour.

New York gets another crack at two hot tickets: The Specials have added a second NYC date and a-ha a third to their very brief U.S. tours this spring. The reunited 2 Tone ska act plays Terminal 5 on April 20, while the Norwegian pop trio has added a third and final show at the Nokia Theatre on May 8.