Pitchfork: Camper Van Beethoven Tour, Bring Cracker Along

Camper Van Beethoven Tour, Bring Cracker Along
Get your roots rock outta my punk-world-folk-ska-rock!

[Updated Monday, January 26th, 2004 01:50:00 Pitchfork Central Time]

After a solid ten years in splitsville, Camper Van Beethoven reformed back in '00 to support the release of Camper Van Beethoven is Dead: Long Live Camper Van Beethoven, and are now gearing up for their second tour in less than a year. This time around, Cracker will be playing with them. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but back in April I witnessed Camper Van play an hour and a half set before closing with a mammoth ten-plus minute version of Fleetwood Mac's "Tusk." Before I was even able to think "damn, that was good, but I would've like to have heard--" frontman David Lowery says, "We're going to take a little break." Twenty minutes later, they came back and played for another hour. For a rabid fanboy like myself who never got to see them back in the day, that was nirvana.

The bands will flip a coin to decide who plays first and who plays second, but it doesn't really matter because a) they're both playing hour-and-a-half sets anyway, and b) three-fifths of each band will be on stage regardless. Camper Van Beethoven's lineup will consist of regular cast members Victor Krummenacher, Greg Lisher, Jonathan Segel, and David Lowery, with Frank Funaro joining them on the skins (and David Immergluck joining in at select shows). As for Cracker, well, exit Segel and Lisher, enter Johnny Hickman and Kenny Margolis.

As for what tunes you can expect to hear on this outing, that's a tough call. Camper Van has a good habit of covering the entire spectrum of their career, and doesn't even shy away from their "hits" like many of their ilk-- don't be surprised if/when you hear "Take the Skinheads Bowling" or "Pictures of Matchstick Men." Cracker's set is anyone's guess. 2003 saw the release of Countrysides, a collection of rowdy drunker-than-thou country covers (and one original tune), so if you're lucky you might be able to sing along with Hank Williams Jr.'s "Family Tradition." Dude, don't front, you know it's a great song.

02-02 Tempe, AZ - Marquee Theatre
02-03 Tucson, AZ -Club Congress
02-04 Santa Fe, NM - The Paramount
02-05 Colorado Springs, CO - 32 Bleu
02-06 Boulder, CO - Fox Theatre
02-07 Steamboat Springs, CO - Levelz
02-09 Jackson Hole, WY - Mangy Moose
02-12 Calgary, Alberta - MacEwan Hall
02-13 Edmonton, Alberta - TBA
02-15 Vancouver, British Columbia - Commodore Ballroom
02-16 Seattle, WA - TBA
02-17 Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom
02-19 Anchorage, AK - Chilkoots Charlie's *
02-20 Juneau, AK - Marlintini's *
02-21 Fairbanks, AK - Blue Loon *
03-07 Miami, FL - Langerdo Music Festival *

* Cracker only