Calvin Johnson To Embark On Extensive Tour

BY Brock ThiessenPublished Feb 17, 2009

When Calvin Johnson says he's going on tour, he's not messing around. For him, it's not just a few dates here and a few dates there but rather a full-on, two-month-plus road trip that takes him everywhere from Tokyo to Toronto to New Orleans to Santa Cruz, and tons of places in between. Seriously, scroll down and just look at all his upcoming dates. If those doesn't scream rock'n'roll work ethic, we don't know what does.

So, yeah, this one-time Beat Happening front-man and K Records head honcho has quite the tour lined up, which will find him playing with his new outfit, the Hive Dwellers.

Along for most of the dates will be recent K signees Chain and the Gang, the latest project of DC mouthpiece and Nation of Ulysses/the Make-Up/Weird War man Ian Svenonius. And perhaps in some sort of recession-driven, cost-cutting move, on the road both Johnson and Svenonius will be sharing the same backing band, which includes Bret Lyman (Bad Thoughts), Brian Weber (Dub Narcotic Sound System), Sarah Pedal and Fred Thomas (Saturday Looks Good to Me, City Center).

While it appears Johnson's dates won't be in support of any Hive Dwellers album, Chain and the Gang's K debut, Down With Liberty... Up With Chains, is due out April 7. Along with Johnson, it features quite the assortment of guest stars, such as Karl Blau, Nicolaas Zwart of Desolation Wilderness, the Vibrarians' Sixx and Old Time Relijun's Arrington de Dionyso, Aaron Hartman and Benjamin Hartman, among others.

Now, here are the upcoming live dates:

3/19 Yamagata, Japan - Obihachi*!
3/20 Sendai, Japan - Heaven*!
3/22 Tokyo, Japan - O-Nest*!
3/24 Matsumoto, Japan - Gunzyo*!
3/25 Kyoto, Japan - Urbanguild*!
3/27 Hiroshima, Japan - Babaji*!
3/28 Fukuoka, Japan - Yojigen*!
3/29 Kokura, Japan - Soap*!
3/31 Matsuyama, Japan - More Music*!
4/2 Nagoya, Japan - Tokuzo*!
4/3 Tokyo, Japan - O-Nest*!
4/9 Salem, OR - Cherry City Music Festival*#
4/14 Springfield, IL - Black Sheep Café+#
4/15 Bloomington, IN - The Cinemat+#
4/16 Pittsburgh, PA - The Nerve+#
4/18 Boston , MA - Outside the Lines Gallery+#
4/19 Providence, Rhode Island - AS220+#
4/20 Annandale on Hudson, NY - Bard College+#
4/21 Danbury, CT - Heirloom Arts+#
4/22 Montreal, QC - Lab Synthese+#
4/23 Hamilton, ON - The Casbah+#
4/24 Toronto, ON -Whippersnapper Gallery+#
4/25 Rochester, NY - The Bug Jar+#
4/26 Brooklyn, NY - Market Hotel+#
4/27 Philadelphia, PA -The Barbary+#
4/28 Baltimore, MD - Talking Head Club+#
4/30 Akron, OH - Musica+#
5/1 Detroit, MI - UFO Factory+#
5/2 Chicago, IL - Co-Prosperity Sphere+#
5/3 Grand Rapids, MI - The DAAC+#
5/5 Minneapolis, MN - The Eclipse Record Store+#
5/6 Iowa City, IA - Public Space+#
5/7 Indianapolis, IN - Public Space 1+#
5/8 Louisville, KY - Skull Alley+#
5/10 Athens, GA - Secret Squirrel+#
5/11 Atlanta, GA - Eyedrum+#
5/12 Huntsville, AL - Vertical House Records+#
5/14 New Orleans, LA - Spellcaster+#
5/15 Scott, LA - Bourque's Social Club+#
5/16 Austin, TX - Emo's+#
5/19 Santa Fe, NM - Warehouse 21+#
5/20 Tucson, AZ - Solar Culture+#
5/22 Los Angeles, CA - The Smell+#
5/23 San Francisco, CA - Million Fishes+#
5/24 Oakland, CA - Ghost Town Gallery+#
5/25 Santa Cruz, CA - Crepe Place+#
5/27 Eureka, CA - Accident Gallery+#
5/28 Portland, OR - Rotture+#
5/29 Seattle, WA - The Vera Project+#
5/30 Vancouver, BC - The Sweatshop+#
5/31 Anacortes, WA - The Department of Safety+#

* solo set
+ Hive Dwellers set
! Karl Blau
# Chain and the Gang

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