Pitchfork: Joan Of Arc Touring with Make Believe, Love Of Everything

Joan Of Arc Touring with Make Believe, Love Of Everything
Band already burned at stake many times over (see review section)

Continuing in the economically brilliant tradition of touring with variations of themselves as opening acts, Joan Of Arc will hit the road this week with Love of Everything (aka Bobby Burg, also featuring Joan Of Arc's Mike Kinsella on drums) and Make Believe, the newest in a long line of Tim Kinsella-fronted projects. But before we get to the tour dates, let's try to break this Make Believe thing down.

Make Believe, in addition to Tim Kinsella, also includes ex-Joan Of Arc member Sam Zurich, Love of Everything's Bobby Burg, and another Kinsella named Nate. The plan reads like an alter-ego to, well, any of the Kinsella family of bands (Owls, Owen, Cap'n Jazz, Friend/Enemy). Following three months on the road, the band members decided to focus on their more agressive songwriting impulses while setting some disciplinary ground rules to guide them.

For instance, (and ironically as well) the band has decided to maintain a consistent line-up, as opposed to the revolving door formula. Furthermore, they must follow a workaday schedule, practicing at least 40 hours a week (sounds like Pitchfork so far). Stylistically, they aim for an effects- and overdubs-free sound that is all live, all the time, even when recording. You can look forward to an EP in the near future courtesy of Chicago's Flameshovel Records.

As for Joan Of Arc, they'll remain as intact as they've ever been, though finally liberated from their rock impulses (thanks to the inception of Make Believe) and therefore free to get even weirder. This tour will continue on the heels of last year's two unfortunately titled releases, So Much Staying Alive and Lovelessness and In Rape Fantasy and Terror Sex We Trust. They will also have a track on the upcoming Jade Tree Sampler, Location is Everything, Vol. 2, to be released April 20th.

So, at last we arrive at the tour dates. This cross-country jaunt finds all three bands-- er, all six or so guys-- stuffed into a pot-clouded little van, tooling the American highways from New York to Seattle and back to Chicago. And who's to say what future project this closeness will foster? Dates:

02-27 Cleveland, OH - Grog Shop
02-28 Rochester, NY - Bug Jar
02-29 Cambridge, MA - Middle East Upstairs
03-02 Brooklyn, NY - North Six
03-03 Philadelphia, PA - The Khyber
03-04 Washington, DC - The Black Cat
03-05 Montclair, NJ - Bloomfield Ave Cafe
03-06 Pittsburgh, PA - The Eye
03-07 Detroit, MI - Shelter
03-19 Minneapolis, MN - Triple Rock Social Club
03-22 Seattle, WA - Graceland
03-23 Portland, OR - Berbatis Pan
03-24 Arcata, CA - The Placebo
03-25 Sacramento, CA - Capitol Garage
03-26 San Francisco, CA - Bottom of the Hill
03-27 Los Angeles, CA - Spaceland
03-28 Las Vegas, NV - Balcony Lights
03-30 Salt Lake CIty, UT - Crimson Underground
03-31 Denver, CO - Larimer Lounge
04-01 Lawrence, KS - Replay Lounge
04-02 Ames, IA - Maintenance Shop
04-03 Champaign, IL - Nargile
04-04 Chicago, IL - Fireside Bowl