Mecca Normal - 25th Anniversary tour dates & lectures

by Andrew Frisicano

The duo of Jean Smith and Dave Lester have revived Mecca Normal, their vocals-and-guitar indie-punk act that, since starting in 1984, has released discs on K Records, Matador, Sub Pop, and Kill Rock Stars – who put out the band’s most recent release, 2006’s The Observer (featuring the single “Attraction is Ephemeral,” video below).

The pair head out on their 25th Anniversary, “How Art & Music Can Change the World” tour – a traveling musical performance/lecture series that’ll visit NYC in both forms, first at Cake Shop on Monday, April 20th, then to present their world changing thesis (see video below for a preview) at Bluestockings Books on Tuesday, April 21st.
Jean Smith says…

I wasn’t expecting to be impacted by the economic downturn when I was laid off from my retail job at an eco-friendly clothing store. The company decided to close the much-loved, quaint, creaky-old-floorboard store to concentrate on their wholesale and online business. As an almost fifty-year-old (single, debt-free) musician, novelist and painter, I am perhaps better equipped to deal with variations on the theme of employment and income, better than people who felt they had security. Rather than look for a new part time job, I’m hitting the road with Mecca Normal to present “How Art & Music Can Change the World” — an art exhibit, lecture and performance event in university and high school classrooms, bookstores, art galleries and music venues.

The band’s back catalogue received a boost recently when the Mecca’s Smarten UP! Records re-released two previously out-of-print Matador releases– 1997’s Who Shot Elvis? and 1995’s Sitting on Snaps – on iTunes earlier this year.

All tour dates and above-mentioned videos below…

“How Art & Music Can Change the World”

Mecca Normal – Attraction is Ephemeral

Mecca Normal – 2009 Tour Dates
– Vancouver — March 28 — The Vinegar Factory — “How Art & Music Can Change the World”
– Vancouver — April 1 — Windermere High School — “How Art & Music Can Change the World”
– Bellingham, WA — April 3 — Underground Coffeehouse
– Seattle — April 4 — Vera Project
– Battle Ground, WA — April 5
– Olympia — April 7 — Evergreen State College — tba
– Olympia — April 7 — All Ages Project
– Portland — April 8 — Holocene
– Salem, OR — April 9 — Cherry City Music Festival
– Salem, OR — April 10 — Willamette University — “How Art & Music Can Change the World”
– Eugene, OR — April 10 — Wandering Goat
– Arcata, CA — April 11 — The Green House
– San Francisco — April 12 — Hemlock Tavern
– San Francisco — April 13 — Modern Times Bookstore — “How Art & Music Can Change the World”
– LA — April 14 — CalArts — “How Art & Music Can Change the World”
– LA — April 15 — Knitting Factory Hollywood
– Durham, NC — tba — “How Art & Music Can Change the World”
– Durham, NC — April 18 — DuoFest III
– DC — April 19 — The Red & The Black Bar
– DC — April 20 — tba — “How Art & Music Can Change the World”
– New York — April 20 — Cake Shop
– New York — April 21 — Bluestockings Books — “How Art & Music Can Change the World”
– Philly — April 22 — Nexus — “How Art & Music Can Change the World”
– Turners Falls, MA — April 23 — Rendezvous
– Providence — April 24 — Rhode Island School of Design — “How Art & Music Can Change the World”
– Boston — April 25 — Megapolis Audio Festival — “How Art & Music Can Change the World”
– Providence — April 25 — AS220