Elvis Perkins & Bowerbirds played festivals, returning to NYC (pictures, videos & 2009 tour dates)
words by Andrew Frisicano, P4K photos by Joseph Xu
DOWNLOAD: Elvis Perkins in Dearland – Shampoo (MP3)
Elvis Perkins @ Clearwater Festival 6/21 (more by Chris La Putt)
Drift: You’re playing Bonaroo this year, and you did last year. Do you enjoy playing festivals?
Elvis Perkins: Yeah. The festival atmosphere and scene is good fun. Especially when people are all sort of holed up in one place, have pilgrimaged their way to a certain spot, like what you get at Bonaroo or Sasquatch, that you don’t necessarily get at Lollapalooza. That behind-the-scenes thing is fun, and just taking part in something like a modern day religious-less pilgrimage, a Mecca of sorts, if good. It lets everyone know that they’re alive. The playing of the sets themselves can sometimes be challenging, but once you get thrown to the fire, you get used to the temperature. And if you can accept that it’s going to be somewhat chaotic and that it’s not going to sound very good, at least to you, on stage, then it can definitely be an enjoyable moment. The last time I was at Bonaroo, I certainly wasn’t in the best spirits, or in the best shape rest-wise or nutrient-wise, so it was a bit of a struggle for me against the heat and the dust. But this time I’m prepared, and I know what awaits. This time I’m going to take Bonaroo before it takes me.
If you caught Elvis at Bonnaroo, you may have noticed Justin Vernon of Bon Iver joining the band on stage for the last two songs of their set. Elvis Perkins in Dearland returned the favor by adding horns to Bon Iver’s “For Emma” and their cover of Yo La Tengo‘s “I Feel Like Going Home.” See the videos below.
Bonnaroo wasn’t the only festival Perkins played this summer. We recently posted pics of him at Newport Folk Festival and at the Clearwater Festival. He’ll also be at Seattle’s Bumbershoot in September.
Perkins’s winter ’09 tour made two NYC stops – one at the Bell House and one in March at the Bowery Ballroom. At the latter, Perkins ended the night by leading the packed crowd through the soapy confines of the NYC subway system for an encore. Elvis Perkins in Dearland will return to that venue for a show on Friday, December 4th with Bowerbirds. Maybe this time they’ll head over the Williamsburg Bridge. Which would leave them not far from their next show, December 5th at the Music Hall of Williamsburg. Tickets for the NYC shows go on AmEx presale Wednesday, August 12th at noon; general sale starts Friday at noon.
Bowerbirds are not playing the Music Hall show – opener TBA on that one. Bowerbirds are currently still on tour with Megafaun who they played Bowery Ballroom with in July 2009 which was not that long before they played the Pitchfork Festival in Chicago (more pictures from that show below). In July 2008, Bowerbirds opened for Bon Iver at Bowery Ballroom (it was part of a larger tour).
Bon Iver has a new project with a new album and tour dates too.
Videos of the above-mentioned Bonnaroo collaborations, P4k pictures, and all tour dates are below…
Bowerbirds at the Pitchfork Festival…
Elvis Perkins…
Elvis Perkins in Dearland – Shampoo w/ Justin Vernon of Bon Iver (LIVE AT BONNAROO 2009)
Bonnaroo 09 Elvis Perkins with Bon Iver – Doomsday
Bon Iver – For Emma live at Bonnaroo 09 with Elvis Perkins in Dearland
Bon Iver – “I Feel Like Going Home” Feat. Elvis Perkins in Dearland@ Bonnaroo 2009
Elvis Perkins – 2009 Tour Dates
Aug 15 Mass MoCA North Adams, Massachusetts
Sep 03 Doug Fir Lounge Portland, Oregon
Sep 05 Bumbershoot Festival Seattle, Washington
Sep 12 B-Side Festival Murcia
Sep 14 Cajagranada Culture Center Granada
Sep 15 Black Note Valencia
Sep 16 Sala Apolo Barcelona
Sep 17 Matadero Culture Center Elche (Alicante)
Sep 18 Sala Heineken Madrid
Sep 20 Leffingeleure Festival Leffinge
Sep 22 Scala London
Sep 24 La Marquise Lyon
Sep 25 Osophere Festival – Le Club Strasbourg
Sep 26 Le Grand Mix Tourcoing (Lille)
Sep 28 L’Alhambra Paris
Oct 02 The Casbah San Diego, California
Oct 03 Troubador Los Angeles, California
Oct 04 Strictly Hardly Bluegrass Festival San Francisco, California
Dec 04 Bowery Ballroom New York, NY #
Dec 05 Music Hall of Williamsburg Brooklyn, NY
# w/ Bowerbirds
Bowerbirds – 2009 Tour Dates
Aug 12 Haileys Denton, Texas *
Aug 13 The Mohawk Austin, Texas *
Aug 14 Walters on Washington Houston, Texas *
Aug 15 One Eyed Jacks New Orleans, Louisiana *
Aug 16 The Bottletree Birmingham, Alabama *
Aug 17 The Earl Atlanta, Georgia
Aug 22 The ArtsCenter Carrboro, North Carolina *
Oct 27 Cargo London, England
Oct 28 Brudenell Social Club Leeds, England
Oct 29 Clwb lfor Bach Cardiff, England
Oct 30 Sneaky Petes Edinburgh, Scotland
Oct 31 Captains Rest Glasgow, Scotland
Nov 01 Manchester, UK – Dulcimer
Nov 06 Lookout Mountain, GA – Covenant College
Nov 07 Tallahassee, FL – Club Downunder
Nov 15 Lexington, KY – Al’s Bar w/ Candy
Nov 16 Louisville, KY – The 930 Listening Room
Nov 18 Fayetteville, AR – RZ’s Coffeehouse
Nov 28 Baltimore, MD – The Ottobar
Dec 04 Bowery Ballroom New York, NY +
* w/ Megafaun
+ w/ Elvis Perkins
