Pitchfork: Braid Prepare DVD, Reunite for May Tour

Braid Prepare DVD, Reunite for May Tour
Thanks to Big Tobacco settlement, barred from playing "My Baby Smokes," "Breath In"

On May 11th, Urbana, IL emo sweethearts Braid will release Killing a Camera 2004: Retrospective, a DVD update of their 2000 VHS, Killing a Camera, which chronicled the band's five final performances. The updated version, which is produced by the same company responsible for the original (Bifocal Media) features a 75 minute all-new retrospective chock full of interviews and until-now-unseen footage, plus audio commentary from all four original band members. Rumor has it they contacted our own Brent DiCrescenzo for an exclusive commentary track, but he declined in the form of an elaborate conceptual conversation between a Norwegian psych professor and an unruly goth teenager which somehow managed to act as a metaphor for the word "no." The response was really quite brilliant, but the origin of the request to participate is suspect at best. That's a joke, kids.

The bigger news, however, is that the band will be reuniting for a tour of the U.S. and Canada in support of the DVD. Understand that the term "reunite" is used very loosely here, as three-fourths of the band was already united in Hey Mercedes. However, don't expect any Hey Mercedes tunes on this tour. According to a statement from the band on the official Braid tour website, "Chris, Todd, Damon, and Bob (a.k.a. Braid) will be circling the entire country playing all of the old tunes. We're psyched." No tour dates have been announced as of yet, but the tour is set to kick off on May 28th.

Whether or not this tour will lead to new recordings from the band remains to be seen. It is worth pointing out, however, that Hey Mercedes hasn't exactly been rolling in success lately. In a message posted on Hey Mercedes' official site, frontman Bob Nanna made a plea to fans for donations in order to keep touring, citing the band's recent string of bad luck revolving around their van (long story short: the van ain't workin'). Oddly enough, that message has since mysteriously disappeared. Unfortunately, this can't help but call into question the band's intentions for the tour. Admittedly, the vanished message stated how much the band wanted to be "out there playing music," so a glass-half-full interpretation is that this is a way they could do that in a financially viable manner. Of course, if you're a glass-is-fucking-empty kind of person, then this reeks of a pitiable cash-in. Regardless of how full your glass is, if you're a fan of Braid that never got the chance to see them back in the '90s, you can rest relatively assured that they'll still sound pretty good, since they aren't exactly out of the habit of playing together.