Pitchfork: The Raconteurs Announce First Shows Ever

The Raconteurs Announce First Shows Ever

Sorry, America, Jack White hath forsook thee. First, J-dub and Brendan Benson's lovechild the Raconteurs decided to drop their debut single in the UK over two months before giving us Yanks a taste. Now, those consummate storytellers are poised to gig out, and as our half-arsed Brit lingo lamely foreshadowed (okay, and that headline too), their first-ever shows will be in dear Old Blighty.

Lucky subjects of the Queen will get to experience White, Benson, and two chaps from the Greenhornes live and freshly de-training-wheel'd, during one of four exclusive UK engagements. Spun another way, the Raconteurs will test-drive their new material before rum-giddy UK audiences as mere preparation for a full-blown, �ber-awesome, to-be-announced U.S. tour. So America and her bloated pride win after all! Yes!

Excitement for geezers:

03-20 Liverpool, England - Academy 2
03-21 Glasgow, Scotland - ABC
03-22 Newcastle, England - Stage 2
03-23 London, England - Astoria

The aforementioned limited edition single, "Steady, As She Goes / Store Bought Bones" drops at last in these deprived States on March 7, while the Raconteurs' full-length, Broken Boy Soldiers, arrives this May.

Finally, White's Grammy-validated side-project (hardy har) the White Stripes have a few Japanese tour dates to make up early next month. You may recall poor Jack fell prey to "an acute vocal chord problem" and the Stripes were forced to postpone these shows, originally slated for January. Confoundingly, every venue they're playing is called Zepp.

Hollaback:

03-05 Tokyo, Japan - Zepp
03-06 Tokyo, Japan - Zepp
03-08 Nagoya, Japan - Zepp
03-09 Osaka, Japan - Zepp