14167

MS MR played Bowery Ballroom (pics), on 'Letterman' tonight, touring (dates)

by Toby Tenenbaum

MS MR @ Bowery Ballroom, 5/15/2013
MSMR

From the website to your album cover art, it seems that everything you guys touch possesses a stunning and unique visual quality. Who comes up with these works of art?
While every element of the project comes directly from us, one of our initial goals for MS MR was to create a community around the project, and we’ve had the incredible opportunity to work with up-and-coming directors and photographers like Tyler Kohlhoff, who shot the covers of the EP and the album. These artists have helped us refine our aesthetic (and their own) and continue to contribute as we incorporate new visual ideas.

Will these visuals play a factor in your upcoming U.S. tour? Can you give some examples of what readers can expect if they come to one of your shows?
The live show has actually been a chance for us bring it all back to the music – during this first year of touring we’ve had the opportunity to put a face on the project and show our musicianship, so we have kept it all very minimal. We’re also a new band and can’t afford to yet fully realize our elaborate schemes for set design…but we’re always thinking about it and are excited to start incorporating things bit by bit.

Despite the obvious comparisons to Florence + The Machine there is no doubting the mainstream appeal of MS MR and, given that they had a song in the Game of Thrones Season 3 trailer and are due to appear on The Late Show with David Letterman tonight (5/16), I don’t anticipate it being long before everyone and their mother is trying to figure out what the mysterious band name means.

Last night at Bowery Ballroom (5/15) was a great, if short, glimpse into the freshly released MS MR album Secondhand Rapture. Energetic, bold and powerful, MS MR (who played a BVSXSW day party this year) were enjoying their hometown gig on their first headlining tour. In addition to the music, singer Lizzie Plapinger, who two nights earlier was spotted in the crowd at Foxygen, treated the audience to nuggets of band autobiography between songs, including how they formed two years ago in keyboardist Max Hershenow’s bedroom.

Tourmates Magic Man played a 40 minute opening set to warm up the crowd. More pictures from last night’s Bowery Ballroom show are with many more tour dates below…

Magic Man

Magic Man

Magic Man

Magic Man

Magic Man

Magic Man

Magic Man

Magic Man

Magic Man

Magic Man

Magic Man

Magic Man

Magic Man

Magic Man

MS MR
MSMR

MSMR

MSMR

MSMR

MSMR

MSMR

MSMR

MSMR

MSMR

MSMR

MSMR

MSMR

MSMR

MSMR

MSMR

MSMR

MSMR

MSMR

MSMR

MSMR

MSMR

MSMR

MSMR

MSMR

MSMR

MSMR

MSMR

MS MR — 2013 Tour Dates
5/16 – Late Show with David Letterman
5/16 – Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s &
5/19 – Chicago, IL @ Schubas Tavern & SOLD OUT
5/20 – Chicago, IL @ Schubas
5/21 – Columbus, OH @ The Basement &
5/22 – Toronto, ON @ Wrongbar
5/23 – Montreal, QC @ I1 Motore
5/25 – Boston, MA @ Boston Calling Music Festival
6/1 – Montauk, NY @ Surf Lodge &
6/7 – New York, NY @ Governors Ball Music Festival
6/14 – Costa Mesa, CA @ Observatory **
6/15 – Los Angeles, CA @ Fonda **
6/16 – San Francisco, CA @ The Independent **
6/17 – San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall **
6/19 – Portland, OR @ Dante’s **
6/26 – Somerset, UK @ Glastonbury
7/2 – Paris, FR @ La Maroquinerie
7/3 – Amsterdam, NE @ Bitterzoet
7/4 – Berlin, DE @ Berghain
7/5 – Hamburg, DE @ Uebel & Gefaehrlich
7/7 – Zurich, Switzerland @ Plaza
7/8 – Munich, DE @ Ampere
7/9 – Cologne, DE @ Gebauede 9
7/11 – Brighton, UK @ The Haunt
7/12 – Abersoch, UK @ Wakestock
7/13 – Balado, UK @ T in the Park
7/15 – Manchester, UK @ Academy 3
7/16 – Birmingham, UK @ Institute Temple
7/17 – London, UK @ Electric Ballroom
7/19 – London @ LoveBox Festival
7/19 – Ferropolis, DE @ Melt Festival
7/26 – Sydney, Australia @ Metro Theatre
7/27 – Byron Bay, Australia @ Spendlour in the Grass
7/29 – Melbourne, Australia @ Hi-Fi
8/2-4 Chicago, IL @ Lollapalooza
8/4 – Chicago, IL @ Lollapalooza
8/9 – San Francisco, CA @ Outside lands
8/23 – Reading, UK @ Reading Festival
8/24 – Leeds, UK @ Leeds Festival
8/25 – Paris, France @ Rock En Seine
9/1 – Stradbadlly, Ireland @ Electric Pinic
10/5 – Austin, TX @ Austin City Limits
10/12 – Austin, TX @ Austin City Limits