Gin Blossoms

Gin Blossoms touring 'New Miserable Experience,' sang with the Meat Puppets

Gin Blossoms‘ 1992 breakthrough New Miserable Experience was an album surrounded by tragedy and it almost didn’t take off at all, but it’s become something of an alt-rock classic over the years. Its best and best known songs (“Hey Jealousy,” “Found Out About You,” “Lost Horizons”) were written by guitarist Doug Hopkins and carried over from the band’s punkier 1989 debut Dusted. For New Miserable Experience, they were given a shiny makeover, thanks in part to producer John Hampton (who had engineered The Replacements’ Pleased to Meet Me, an album the Gin Blossoms were surely influenced by). Before the album was even released, Hopkins was fired from the band due to his alcoholism, and he committed suicide the following year, just as “Hey Jealousy” began taking off. The band’s next album without Hopkins (1996’s Congratulations I’m Sorry) failed to make much of an impact, and they broke up (for five years) a year after its release.

New Miserable Experience turns 25 this year, and over the years it’s proved to be pretty influential, especially on punk bands. “Hey Jealousy” has been faithfully covered by Beach Slang and The Ergs!, and Iron Chic proudly opened for the Gin Blossoms a couple years ago. So it’s exciting news that the band will be performing the album in full on tour for its 25th anniversary. They also gave it a vinyl reissue.

The New Miserable Experience tour hits NYC on December 3 at Irving Plaza. Tickets for that show go on sale Friday (9/15) at 10 AM with various presales starting beforehand. All dates, including an Atlantic City show, are listed below.

In other Gin Blossoms news, singer Robin Wilson recently joined fellow Arizona band the Meat Puppets on stage at the Arizona Music & Entertainment Hall of Fame induction ceremony, where the Meat Puppets’ original lineup of Curt Kirkwood, Cris Kirkwood, and Derrick Bostrom reunited for the first time in nearly 22 years. Robin sang guest lead vocals on “Look at the Rain,” and the Gin Blossoms also played their own set. Watch a video of “Look at the Rain,” and one of the Meat Puppets playing “Up on the Sun,” below.

Speaking of Beach Slang, their tour hits Irving Plaza on 11/29, four days before Gin Blossoms play there.

Gin Blossoms — 2017 Tour Dates
Fri 15 Sep 2017 Black Bear Casino Resort Carlton, MN, US
Sat 23 Sep 2017 University at Buffalo Pre-Game Tailgate 2017 Buffalo, NY, US
Sat 30 Sep 2017 Adventure Land Altoona, IA, US
Fri 06 Oct 2017 Canyon Club Agoura Hills, CA, US
Sat 07 Oct 2017 93.1 JACK FM’s 12th Show 2017 Irvine, CA, US
Wed 08 Nov 2017 Cascade Theater Redding, CA, US
Thu 09 Nov 2017 The Craterian Theater at The Collier Center for the Performing Arts Medford, OR, US*
Sat 11 Nov 2017 Snoqualmie Casino Snoqualmie, WA, US*
Mon 13 Nov 2017 Great American Music Hall San Francisco, CA, US*
Wed 15 Nov 2017 Grand Theatre Center For The Arts Tracy, CA, US*
Thu 16 Nov 2017 The Rose Pasadena, CA, US*
Fri 17 Nov 2017 The Canyon Santa Clarita Santa Clarita, CA, US*
Fri 01 Dec 2017 Borgata Hotel & Casino Atlantic City, NJ, US*
Sat 02 Dec 2017 Cary Hall Lexington, MA, US*
Sun 03 Dec 2017 Irving Plaza New York, NY, US*
Tue 05 Dec 2017 The Orange Peel Asheville, NC, US*
Thu 07 Dec 2017 Private Show 2017 Miami Beach, FL, US N/A
Sat 09 Dec 2017 Beach Town Music Festival 2017 Vero Beach, FL, US*
Sun 10 Dec 2017 Capitol Theatre Clearwater, FL, US*
Thu 14 Dec 2017 Variety Playhouse Atlanta, GA, US*

* – New Miserable Experience show