Brooklyn-based alternative band Grizzly Bear will make its mark on the U.S. festival circuit once again this spring. But in addition to sets at South By Southwest (SXSW), Sasquatch! and Bonnaroo, the quartet also plans a spring tour of North America.
The acclaimed indie outfit will hit the stage first for two concerts under the SXSW umbrella on March 19 at Central Presbyterian Church and March 20 at Cedar Street Courtyard, both in Austin, TX. The 20-date spring tour picks up later with a May 24 gig at Aladdin Theatre in Portland, OR.
The trek will stop for a May 25 appearance at the Sasquatch! Music Festival in Quincy, WA, a May 28-29 stand at Town Hall in New York, NY, a June 4 show at Le National in Montreal, QC, and a June 12 set at Bonnaroo in Manchester, TN. The tour closes June 21 at The Fillmore in San Francisco, CA.
Grizzly Bear will be touring in support of the upcoming “Veckatimest,” set for release on May 26. The disc is the band’s third full-length studio album, a follow-up to 2006’s critically acclaimed “Yellow House,” and features a slightly more upbeat, pop sound than Grizzly Bear’s previous work.
“I think we’re all in a really poppy place for sure,” frontman Edward Droste told Billboard in an interview last year. “There are dark lyrics in play, and it’s not like the whole album is going to be an up-tempo radio pop thing at all. We’ll probably never get played on the radio, but [on] just a couple of the songs the mood is perhaps a bit sunnier than ‘Yellow House.'”
The spring 2099 outing will not be Grizzly Bear’s first time playing the nation’s big music festivals, like SXSW and Bonnaroo. The indie quartet made several festival appearances in the years since “Yellow House” was release. However, the band’s biggest concert breakthrough came when Grizzly Bear was selected to be the opening act for select dates on Radiohead’s 2008 summer tour.
“I really feel like — for me — it’s the ultimate opportunity to be able to tour with Radiohead,” Droste explained to Billboard. “Like, it’s crazy to me. I grew up listening to them and respect them so much. It’s kind of insane.”
Grizzly Bear itinerary:
(Dates are subject to change.)
| March 19 | Austin, TX | SXSW @ Central Presbyterian Church |
| March 20 | Austin, TX | SXSW @ Cedar Street Courtyard |
| May 24 | Portland, OR | Aladdin Theater |
| May 25 | Quincy, WA | Sasquatch! Music Festival @ Gorge Amphitheatre |
| May 26 | Vancouver, BC | Commodore Ballroom |
| May 28 – 29 | New York, NY | Town Hall |
| June 1 | Washington, DC | 9:30 Club |
| June 2 | Philadelphia, PA | Trocadero Theatre |
| June 3 | Boston, MA | Berklee Performance Center |
| June 4 | Montreal, QC | Le National |
| June 5 | Toronto, ON | Phoenix Concert Theatre |
| June 7 | Minneapolis, MN | Cedar Cultural Center |
| June 8 | Milwaukee, WI | Pabst Theater |
| June 9 | Bloomington, IN | Buskirk-Chumley Theater |
| June 11 | Carrboro, NC | Cat’s Cradle |
| June 12 | Manchester, TN | Bonnaroo Music Festival |
| June 13 | Atlanta, GA | The Tabernacle * |
| June 15 | Dallas, TX | Granada Theater |
| June 16 | Austin, TX | The Parish Room |
| June 19 | Los Angeles, CA | The Wiltern |
| June 21 | San Francisco, CA | The Fillmore |
* appearing with TV on the Radio