Zach Condon, the rock world’s most famous living ukulele player (R.I.P. Tiny Tim), has been summoned by the siren call of the road from the absinthe-scented, swingin’ 1930s gypsy jazz club in Paris’ Montmartre neighborhood where he lives while he’s not making records or playing every summer festival ever. The man behind Beirut has a new album in the works, so it’s goodbye to nights spent exchanging witty repartees with the gin-sozzled ghosts of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Louise Brooks and HELLOOOOO to a four-month-long bus tour through every single city in Europe and America. This is Beirut’s first US tour in over four years, however, so dust off your hat box, Ghost Louise Brooks, and get on the bus! A show like this hasn’t traversed America since the golden days of vaudeville!
Because not only is Condon bringing his usual ukulele, trumpet, and pianey on the road, he’s also bringing some musically inclined friends. Accordion/piano dude Perrin Cloutier, Paul Collins (electric bass, upright bass), Ben Lanz (trombone, piano, tuba), Kelly Pratt (trumpet, euphonium), and Nick Petree (drums) are also coming along for the ride. (ACCORDION! EUPHONIUM!) And it’s all in support of the new Beirut album The Rip Tide, coming out August 30 on his own Pompeii Records. The new album is being described as more of an “inward journey,” with less Jacques Brel-eqsue songs about lost love in dark Parisian ghost cafes and more songs about “impressions of life at a quarter century of age,” presumably in this year of our Lord 2011 instead of sweet, faded 1931.
Dates:
07.09.11 - Trencin, Slovakia - Pohoda
07.12.11 - Arles, France - Arles Fest
07.14.11 - Meco, Portugal - Super Bock Super Rock
07.16.11 - Valencia, Spain - Benicassim Festival
07.18.11 - Lyon, France - Les Nuits de Fourviere
07.20.11 - Nyon, Switzerland - Paleo Festival
07.29.11 - Portland, ME - State Theater
07.31.11 - Montreal, QC - Osheaga
08.02.11 - Toronto, ON - The Phoenix
08.04.11 - Toronto, ON - The Phoenix *
08.05-07.11 – Chicago, IL - Lollapalooza
08.10.11 - Vancouver, BC - Commodore
08.12.11 - Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom
08.14.11 - San Francisco, CA - Outside Lands
09.02.11 - Dorset, UK - End of Road Festival
09.04.11 - Stradbally, Ireland - Electric Picnic
09.06.11 - Manchester, UK - Manchester Academy
09.08.11 - Amsterdamn, Netherlands - Paradiso
09.12.11 - Paris, France - Olympia
09.14.11 - Brussels, Belgium - AB
09.16.11 - London, UK - Brixton Academy
09.21.11 - New York, NY - Terminal 5
09.22.11 - New York, NY - Terminal 5
09.28.11 - Denver, CO - Fillmore Auditorium
10.04.11 - Los Angeles, CA - Greek Theatre
10.09.11 - St. Louis, MO - The Pageant
10.11.11 - Royal Oak, MI - Royal Oak Music Hall
10.25.11 - Richmond, VA - The National
10.27.11 - Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse
10.29.11 - Austin, TX - Stubbs Waller Creek
11.11.11 - Cincinnati, OH - Bogarts
11.13.11 - Philadelphia, PA - Electric Factory
* Owen Pallett
• Beirut: http://beirutband.com
