Pitchfork

This spring, sometime after the Northeast is finally dug out, we can look forward to the signs that will indicate the carefree activities of springtime: bikini-clad coeds, Fox's latest reality show, and our new, legit copies of The White Stripes' Elephant. We'll finally have the opportunity to forget about war and the fact that we're all fucking unemployed; the warm weather will bring us the opportunity to take ourselves less seriously. Well, almost all of us...

As the troops begin posturing and amassing overseas, your local rock club will get a visit by a young man with way too much on his mind. Yes, sir, Connor Oberst is preparing to embark on a tour with a condensed Bright Eyes line-up. Still touring on the strength of his latest full-length, Lifted, or The Story Is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground, Oberst is ditching the 15-piece orchestra that brought the complex album arrangements to their full fruition for a streamlined quintet for easier traveling.

The Omaha native doesn't have any new material pending release for Bright Eyes, or his rock band Desaparecidos, but we're sure a few new songs will creep into his setlist one way or another. The Nebraska water and lack of entertainment has, so far, managed to keep Oberst's songwriting as prolific as it gets. Plus, puberty's finally gotten around to converting his fingernail-on-chalkboard groan into a weary croon. There has never been a more exciting time to get on the Bright Eyes-covered band wagon; which will not only carry Oberst but his support acts: sadcore fun-merchants Arab Strap and Her Space Holiday and the more whimsical Sorry about Dresden. Tourdates:

02-27 New York, NY - Knitting Factory
04-01 Boulder, CO - Fox Theatre
04-04 Vancouver, BC - Commodore Ballroom *
04-05 Seattle, WA - Showbox *
04-06 Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom *
04-08 San Francisco, CA - Fillmore *
04-09 Los Angeles, CA - Henry Fonda Theatre *
04-10 Los Angeles, CA - Henry Fonda Theatre ^
04-11 Pomona, CA - Glass House ^
04-12 San Diego, CA - The Scene ^
04-13 Tucson, AZ - Rialto Theatre ^
04-16 Dallas, TX - Trees ^
04-17 Austin, TX - La Zona Rosa #
04-18 Houston, TX - Engine Room #
04-19 New Orleans, LA - TBA *
04-21 Tampa, FL - TBA *
04-23 Miami, FL - The Manuel Artime Theatren %
04-24 Orlando, FL - The Club @ Firestone %
04-25 Athens, GA - 40 Watt %
04-26 Carrboro, NC - Cats Cradle %
04-27 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club *
04-28 Philadelphia, PA - Trocadero *
04-29 Boston, MA - Roxy *
04-30 New York, NY - Irving Plaza *
05-01 New York, NY - Town Hall *
05-02 Northampton, MA - Calvin Theatre *
05-03 Burlington, VT - Higher Ground *
05-04 Montreal, ONT - TBA *
05-05 Toronto, ONT - TBA *
05-06 Cleveland, OH - Agora Ballroom $
05-07 Detroit, MI - St. Andrews $
05-08 Chicago, IL - Metro $
05-09 Madison, WI - TBA $
05-10 Minneapolis, MN - TBA $
05-11 Omaha, NE - TBA $

* Arab Strap only
^ with Arab Strap and Simon Joyner
# with Arab Strap and Her Space Holiday
% with Arab Strap and Sorry About Dresden
$ with Arab Strap and Head of Femur