Pitchfork

How 'bout another round for the booking agents of the world? Though the neverending Speedwagon/Foreigner dual bill isn't one to be slept on, they've packed this fall with a few of the smartest tour pairings we can recall. And we just caught wind of another hot one: Art Brut will be touring with the Hold Steady. 

We don't have many dates now-- there's only one confirmed at the moment: Toad's Place in Richmond, Virginia on November 19-- but we're already readying our "this band is their country's version of that band" metaphors in anticipation. We'll get those dates to you as soon as we hear about 'em (word on the street is it'll be a couple weeks); you just get good and ready to get yourself rocked.

You read about the Hold Steady's current plans yesterday, though you didn't know-- 'cause we just found out-- that their August 18 date at Slane Castle in Ireland is an opening slot for some band called the Rolling Stones. Craig Finn's also performing solo at the Barnes & Noble in New York's Union Square on September 13, and a few days later, the whole band is playing a show at the World Trade Center Plaza.

As for Art Brut, though the sounds of summer will soon become a faint ringing in your ears, it's no matter to them. Eddie Argos will bring their "Sound of Summer" and almost certainly several other self-referential shoutalongs to fans the world over on a series of tour dates that just won't let up. Currently taking a breather from the road (and, perhaps, uncovering the fate of new BFF Harry Potter or prepping themselves to go liver-to-liver with Tad Kubler) before a few scattered European dates this month, they'll move around North America, Europe again, and Australia like their shoes don't fit in August, September, and October, all before taking up on their string of massive nights and killer parties.

Art Brut and the Hold Steady, so far:

11-19 Richmond, VA - Toad's Place

Art Brut:

08-09 St. Tropez, France - Les Plages du Rock
08-15 St. Malo, France - La Route du Rock
08-17 Hasselt, Belgium - Pukkelpop
08-25 Dortmund, Germany - Area 4 Festival
08-26 London, England - Get Loaded in the Park Festival
08-30 Stockholm, Sweden - Wrangler
09-02 Seattle, WA - Bumbershoot Festival
09-03 Vancouver, British Columbia - Richards on Richards
09-05 Calgary, Alberta - The Warehouse
09-06 Edmonton, Alberta - Starlite Room
09-07 Winnipeg, Manitoba - Pyramid Cabaret
09-08 Chicago, IL - Hideout Block Party
09-11 Los Angeles CA - Key Club
09-13 Las Vegas, NV - Beauty Bar
09-14 Austin, TX - The Mohawk
09-15 Morrison, CO - Monolith Festival
09-20 Cologne, Germany - Live Music Hall
09-21 Munich, Germany - Kleine Elserhalle
09-22 Milan, Italy - Wrangler
09-23 Vienna, Austria - Flex
09-25 Basel, Switzerland - Kaserne
09-26 Sarrbruecken, Germany - Garage
09-27 Karlsruhe, Gremany - Festhalle Durlach
09-29 Berlin, Germany - Kesselhaus
09-30 Frankfurt, Germany - Mousonturm
10-01 Erlangen, Germany - E-Werk
10-02 Bielefeld, Germany - Ringlokschuppen
10-03 Hamburg, Germany - Grosse Freiheit 26
12-15 Meredith, Australia - Meredith Music Festival
12-16 Sydney, Australia - The Factory
12-18 Brisbane, Australia - The Zoo
12-19 Melbourne, Australia - The Corner

Hold Steady:

08-04 Chicago, IL - Grant Park (Lollapalooza)
08-05 Covington, KY - Madison Theater
08-06 Toronto, Ontario - Opera House
08-07 Montreal, Quebec - La Sala Rossa
08-09 Brooklyn, NY - Prospect Park Bandshell
08-18 Slane, Ireland - Slane Castle *
08-19 Limerick, Ireland - Dolans Warehouse
08-21 Belfast, Ireland - Vital Festival
08-22 Carlisle, England - Brickyard
08-24 Leeds, England - Leeds Festival
08-25 Cardiff, Wales - The Point
08-26 Reading, England - Reading Festival
08-28 Zagreb, Croatia - INmusic Festival
08-30 London, England - Electric Ballroom
08-31 Nottingham, England - Rescue Rooms
09-01 Inveraray, Scotland - Connect Festival
09-13 New York, NY - Union Square Barnes and Noble (Craig Finn solo)
09-17 New York, NY - World Trade Center Plaza ^

* with the Rolling Stones
^ with Old 97s, Illinois