Acclaimed indie rock outfit Modest Mouse is kicking off a fresh round of high-demand tour dates later this month. The 21-city run launches February 20 at McDonald Theatre in Eugene, OR, and wraps with a sold-out concert on March 15 at Terminal 5 in New York, NY.

Performances on March 6 at The Lyric in Oxford, MS, and on March 13 at 9:30 Club in Washington, DC, have sold out, as well. Other gig stops include a February 24 show at the Hollywood Palladium in Hollywood, CA, a March 4 show at Stubb’s Bar-B-Q in Austin, TX, and a March 14 set at Rams Head Live! in Baltimore, MD. The trek features special guest Mimicking Birds.

Modest Mouse has been on the road for the past two years promoting the acclaimed 2007 release “We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank,” including an outing with R.E.M. and The National. The critically acclaimed and nautically themed album earned the band its first No. 1 position on the Billboard 200.

“We Were Dead” is also the first Modest Mouse record to feature new band member Johnny Marr, iconic guitarist of The Smiths. The musician was originally invited to help frontman Isaac Brock pen several songs, but it soon evolved into a long-term recording and touring partnership.

“He made a cautious commitment to write and record with us, and then the tighter we got, he was like, ‘Okay, let’s tour too,'” Brock told Pitchfork Media in a 2006 interview. “Then he was pretty much a member of the band — not pretty much. He’s a full blown member of the band. It’s really f—in’ nice.”

Modest Mouse is currently working on an EP, as of yet untitled, which will feature unreleased songs from the recording sessions for “Good News for People Who Love Bad News” and “We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank.” The disc is expected to hit stores in 2009.


Modest Mouse itinerary:
(Dates are subject to change.)

February 20 Eugene, OR McDonald Theatre
February 21 Chico, CA Senator Theatre
February 22 Oakland, CA Fox Theater
February 23 Visalia, CA Visalia Fox Theatre
February 24 Hollywood, CA Hollywood Palladium
February 25 Tempe, AZ The Marquee
February 26 Albuquerque, NM Albuquerque Convention Center
February 28 Boulder, CO Balch Fieldhouse
March 2 Kansas City, MO Uptown Theater
March 3 Oklahoma City, OK Diamond Ballroom
March 4 Austin, TX Stubb’s Bar-B-Q
March 6 Oxford, MS The Lyric Oxford
March 7 Atlanta, GA The Tabernacle
March 8 Fort Lauderdale, FL Revolution
March 9 Lake Buena Vista, FL House of Blues
March 10 North Myrtle Beach, SC House of Blues
March 11 Raleigh, NC Disco Rodeo
March 12 Baltimore, MD Rams Head Live!
March 13 Washington, DC 9:30 Club
March 14 Philadelphia, PA Electric Factory
March 15 New York, NY Terminal 5