Coming To Your Local Bandstand: Evangelicals, Ringo Deathstarr

>> [photo credit: Ringo Deathstarr live by Fred Holten]

>> So remember the other day when we were noting that conspicuously absent from the press info surrounding the impending release of Evangelicals' sophomore set was any tour dates? For a reminder, scroll down. It turns out we were just slightly ahead of our time, as a ridiculously thorough tour has just been announced. Evangelicals will bring their traveling circus of psych rock to the Middle East in Cambridge Feb. 27; the full itinerary is below. As we stated in our review of a 2006 show, "the difference between Evangelicals and the rest of the bands that you see in the middle of a bill on a Wednesday night at an established rock club in a major American city (besides the fact that Evangelicals are awesome), is that the band brings its own smoke machine. And red and green lights and piles of plastic flowers."

02/15 -- Columbia, MO -- Mojo's
02/16 -- Lexington, KY -- The Icehouse
02/17 -- Nashville, TN -- The End
02/18 -- Athens, GA -- The Caledonia Lounge
02/19 -- Mt. Pleasant, SC -- Village Tavern
02/20 -- Norfolk, VA -- The Boot
02/21 -- Arlington, VA -- Iota
02/24 -- New York, NY -- Mercury Lounge
02/25 -- Philadelphia, PA -- Johnny Brenda's
02/26 -- Hamden, CT -- The Space
02/27 -- Cambridge, MA -- Middle East
02/28 -- Princeton, NJ -- Terrace Club
02/29 -- Brooklyn, NY -- Union Hall
03/01 -- Buffalo, NY -- Mohawk Place
03/02 -- Toronto, ON -- El Mocambo
03/03 -- Cleveland, OH -- Beachland
03/04 -- Bloomington, IN -- Waldron Arts Center
03/06 -- Urbana, IL -- Canopy Club
03/07 -- Chicao, IL -- Schuba's
03/08 -- St. Louis, MO -- Bilken Club
03/09 -- Springfield, MO -- Randy Beacon Gallery
03/10 -- Norman, OK -- Opolis
03/11 -- Dallas, TX -- The Cavern
03/12 -- Austin, TX -- SXSW
03/13 -- Austin, TX -- SXSW
03/14 -- Austin, TX -- SXSW
03/15 -- Austin, TX -- SXSW
03/17 -- Tucson, AZ -- Plush
03/19 -- Los Angeles, CA -- Silver Lake Lounge
03/20 -- Visalia, CA -- Howie & Sons
03/21 -- San Francisco, CA -- Hemlock Tavern
03/23 -- Seattle, WA -- Nectar Lounge
03/24 -- Missoula, MT -- Badlander
03/26 -- Salt Lake City, UT -- Kilby Court
03/27 -- Denver, CO -- Hi Dive
03/28 -- Omaha, NE -- Waiting Room
03/29 -- Minneapolis, MN -- Nomad
03/30 -- Milwaukee, WI -- Cactus Club
04/01 -- Dekalb, IL -- House Cafe
04/02 -- Madison, WI -- Club 770
04/03 -- Iowa City, IA -- The Mill
04/04 -- Lake Forest, IL -- The Chapel
04/05 -- Beloit, WI -- Beloit College

>> That Evangelicals date in Cambridge we note supra sounded dangerously close to the date of shoegaze dynamos Ringo Deathstarr's area appearance, so we surfed over to the band's MySpace tent to make sure we weren't heading for a conflict. Fortunately, we're not. As you can see below, Ringo Deathstarr will be blowing the walls down at the Abbey Lounge in Cambridge Feb. 25. It seems the end of February will be quite a busy time for :: clicky clicky :: live show reportage. When it rains, it reports (Colbert pronunciation, please). The Deathstarr will be hopscotching here and back to Texas via Brooklyn at the end of next month, and all current live commitments are listed at the bottom of this item. The band's eponymous EP was among our favorite records of 2007. One tune you won't find on that excellent EP is the demo for "Your Town," which the band is once again giving away at MySpace. We'll save you the trip and post it below. We're not sure how many Small Factory/Godrays fans we have out there, but the breathy vocal of "Your Town" reminds us very much of the odd and beautiful Godrays song sketch "Carkeys, Ponytail and Gum" that closed out the Providence, RI-spawned act's enjoyable Songs For T.V. Stars. Oh how we miss the combined efforts of Alex Kemp and Phoebe Summersqash. To prove it, we're posting that Godrays song below as well.

Ringo Deathstarr -- "Your Town (Demo)"
The Godrays -- "Carkeys, Ponytail And Gum" -- Songs For T.V. Stars
[right click and save as]
[buy the Ringo Deathstarr EP here]
[buy Godrays records from Sit-N-Spin here]

01/22 -- Emo’s Lounge -- Austin, Texas
02/09 -- Vortex -- Beaumont, Texas
02/10 -- Emo’s Inside -- Austin, Texas
02/22 -- Brillo Box -- Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
02/23 -- The Tank -- New York, New York
02/25 -- Abbey Lounge -- Cambridge, Massachusetts
02/26 -- Glasslands -- Brooklyn, New York