Grails Announce Fall North American Tour Dates
One of my very favorite aspects of Grails is seeing what people call them. Because of all the many bands out there, the eclectic Portland outfit are among the most purposefully genre-less, and just when you think you’ve got a handle on what they’re doing, they delight in slipping that grip. They’re headed out on their first North American tour in two years — their last full-length was 2011’s Deep Politics (review here) and they released a split with Pharaoh Overlord last year on Kemado — and they’ll be bringing side-project Lilacs and Champagne and Wreckmeister Harmonies along on the trip.
Also sprach the PR wire:
GRAILS ANNOUNCE US TOUR
HEADING OUT FOR FIRST NORTH AMERICAN DATES IN 2 YEARS WITH LILACS & CHAMPAGNE AND WREKMEISTER HARMONIES
The Portland-based out-rock/crate-digger quartet Grails have announced their first US tour in nearly two years. The dates, which primarily focus on major cities along the east coast, directly precede the band’s previously announced appearance at Kentucky’s coveted Boomslang Festival (full tour dates below). Grails are noted and respected not only for their unique and meticulous composition style, but also for their virtuosic instrumental prowess and riveting live shows. The scarcity of their performances renders attendance at these shows a veritable necessity.
Joining the group will be Lilacs & Champagne, the production moniker of Grails members Alex Hall and Emil Amos, who just dropped a video for “Sensations” from last year’s self-titled album on Mexican Summer, and Wrekmeister Harmonies, the musical mantle of Chicago-based multimedia composer JR Robinson, whose recent Thrill Jockey LP You’ve Always Meant So Much To Me bridges the chasm between minimalist neoclassical and blackened doom to harrowing and gorgeous results.
GRAILS TOUR DATES (all with Wrekmeister Harmonies and Lilacs & Champagne except where noted):
Sep 10 Nashville, TN The End
Sep 11 Atlanta, GA The Earl
Sep 12 Chapel Hill, NC Local 506
Sep 13 Baltimore, MD Metro Gallery
Sep 14 Philadelphia, PA Boot and Saddle
Sep 15 New York, NY St Vitus
Sep 16 Boston, MA Great Scott
Sep 17 Montreal, QC Il Motore
Sep 18 Toronto, ON The Drake
Sep 19 Detroit, MI Magic Stick Lounge
Sep 20 Chicago, IL Beat Kitchen
Sep 21 Lexington, KY Boomslang Festival *(only Grails)
