Pitchfork: Supergrass Plan North American Tour

When we imagine Supergrass tours, we imagine boundless hilarity, with the band's dayglo van forever bouncing along a sunny highway to the next madcap revel. The van screeches up in front of the venue and the band tumbles out the side door wearing matching t-shirts. Mickey sticks a cigarette up his nose for a laugh as Gaz insists that everyone in the vicinity say hello to his sideburns. A nearby stuffed shirt almost loses his top hat in the tumult and grumbles at their uncouth behavior, but ultimately even he is won over by the youthful Supergrass charm. After the show, the four members dash off in unison, cheekily flinging gumdrops at each other, leaving us better and happier people than before they arrived.

But there comes a time in every Britpop band's life when, as they say, "it all gets too much." That's when you hire a string section to record a wintry, introspective album like Road to Rouen, garnering adjectives like "mature" and "intimate." Then you embark on a short tour of small North American venues. Supergrass knows how it's done:

02-06 Toronto, Ontario - Kool Haus
02-07 Montreal, Quebec - La Tulipe
02-09 New York, NY - Webster Hall
02-010 Boston, MA - Paradise Rock Club
02-11 Philadelphia, PA - Theatre of Living Arts
02-12 Washington, DC - 9.30 Club
02-14 Chicago, IL - Vic Theatre
02-15 Nashville, TN - City Hall
02-16 Atlanta, GA - The Loft
02-18 Dallas, TX - Trees
02-19 Austin, TX - Parish
02-21 Tempe, AZ - The Clubhouse
02-22 Los Angeles, CA - Avalon
02-23 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall
02-25 Seattle, WA - The Showbox
02-26 Vancouver, British Columbia - Commodore Ballroom