The Heavy Roads Lead West
If you like it slow and crushing, this was your week. Two of the most respected names in modern doom and post-metal announced fall tours, and both are routing straight through Southern California. After a few roundups stacked with hardcore and reunion-circuit nostalgia, this one belongs to the people who like their riffs patient.
Pallbearer — Foundations of Burden Tour
with Ordh
Pallbearer are closing the book on their Foundations of Burden run, and they’re doing it the right way, playing the whole record front to back. That 2014 album is the one that turned a promising Arkansas doom band into the standard everyone else gets measured against. Hearing “Watcher in the Dark” and “The Ghost I Used to Be” in sequence is the kind of thing you build a night around. I’ll be at the Constellation Room on September 2nd. Small room, massive sound, exactly how this should be heard. Ordh opens the West Coast dates.
- 08/20 · Shreveport, LA · Bear’s
- 08/21 · Houston, TX · Black Magic Social Club
- 08/22 · McAllen, TX · The Gremlin
- 08/23 · Austin, TX · Brushy Street Commons
- 08/25 · Dallas, TX · AM/FM
- 08/27 · Arenas Valley, NM · Whiskey Creek Zócalo
- 08/28 · Tucson, AZ · Soundquest Festival
- 09/01 · San Diego, CA · The Casbah
- 09/02 · Santa Ana, CA · Constellation Room
- 09/03 · Los Angeles, CA · Echoplex
- 09/05 · San Francisco, CA · Great American Music Hall
- 09/06 · San Jose, CA · The Ritz
- 09/08 · Eugene, OR · John Henry’s
- 09/09 · Portland, OR · Polaris
- 09/11 · Bellingham, WA · The Shakedown
- 09/12 · Vancouver, BC · The American
- 09/13 · Seattle, WA · Substation
- 09/14 · Spokane, WA · The Big Dipper
- 09/15 · Boise, ID · Shrine Social Club
- 09/16 · Salt Lake City, UT · Urban Lounge
- 09/18 · Denver, CO · Marquis
- 09/19 · Omaha, NE · Slowdown
- 09/21 · St. Paul, MN · Turf Club
- 09/22 · Chicago, IL · Empty Bottle
- 09/23 · Muskegon, MI · Rake Beer Project
- 09/24 · Cincinnati, OH · Woodward Theater
- 09/25 · Lexington, KY · The Burl
Russian Circles — Nine Fall Tour
with Pelican and Primitive Man
Russian Circles don’t tour light. Their ninth album, Nine, lands August 28th on Sargent House, tracked partly at Steve Albini’s Electrical Audio with Converge’s Kurt Ballou engineering. The bill is as heavy as that pedigree suggests. Pelican carries the first leg, then Primitive Man takes over for the West Coast run, which means the LA stop at the Belasco on November 11th comes with Denver’s most punishing sludge band in the opening slot. This is instrumental post-metal that actually earns the “post.” Go for Russian Circles, stay for Primitive Man flattening the room.
- 09/25 · Whitefish Bay, WI · The Argo
- 09/26 · Chicago, IL · Bohemian National Cemetery
- 09/28 · Detroit, MI · El Club
- 09/29 · Toronto, ON · The Opera House
- 09/30 · Montreal, QC · Club Soda
- 10/01 · Boston, MA · Royale
- 10/03 · Queens, NY · Knockdown Center
- 10/04 · Philadelphia, PA · Union Transfer
- 10/05 · Baltimore, MD · Soundstage
- 10/07 · Carrboro, NC · Cat’s Cradle
- 10/08 · Charleston, SC · The Music Farm
- 10/09 · Orlando, FL · The Beacham Theater
- 10/10 · Atlanta, GA · Variety Playhouse
- 10/12 · Nashville, TN · The Basement East
- 10/13 · Indianapolis, IN · The Hi-Fi
- 11/04 · St. Louis, MO · Delmar Hall
- 11/06 · Denton, TX · Rubber Gloves
- 11/07 · Austin, TX · The Far Out Lounge
- 11/09 · Phoenix, AZ · Walter Studios
- 11/11 · Los Angeles, CA · The Belasco
- 11/12 · San Francisco, CA · Great American Music Hall
- 11/14 · Portland, OR · Crystal Ballroom
- 11/15 · Seattle, WA · The Showbox
- 11/16 · Boise, ID · Treefort Music Hall
- 11/17 · Salt Lake City, UT · Metro Music Hall
- 11/19 · Englewood, CO · The Gothic Theatre
- 11/20 · Omaha, NE · Slowdown
- 11/21 · Minneapolis, MN · Varsity Theater
Two tours, two SoCal dates, no excuses. Sort out the Pallbearer presale Wednesday, because the Constellation Room is going to move fast.