parquet-courts-ellen
photo: Michael Rozman/Warner Bros

Parquet Courts share new song "Watching Strangers Smile," play it on Ellen

Parquet Courts made a return visit to Ellen today, having performed on the show back in 2018. While they’ve got a great new album, Sympathy for Life, they opted to play “Watching Strangers Smile,” a song that’s only been released as a b-side in Japan. Andrew Savage gives a pretty intense vocal performance for the otherwise poppy song, and you can watch that below.

As for the song, Savage says it was recorded during their Sympathy for Life sessions with Rodaidh McDonald but was left unfinished. “I recorded the vocals on my own to sort of keep from going stir crazy that first lockdown summer,” says Andrew. “Apologies to my neighbors for the long afternoon spent screaming these vocals in my bedroom.”

The studio version of “Watching Strangers Smile” was also just released and you can listen to that below.

Parquet Courts’ 2022 tour begins February 27 in Asheville, NC and dates through March 18 are with Mdou Moctar. They’ll play NYC at Brooklyn Steel on April 1 with Yu Su and April 2 with Hailu Mergia. Tickets for both Brooklyn Steel shows are still available, and all dates are listed below.

PARQUET COURTS – 2022 TOUR DATES
Sun. Feb. 27 – Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel *
Mon. Feb. 28 – Athens, GA @ Georgia Theatre *
Wed. March 2 – Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse *
Thu. March 3 – Birmingham, AL @ Saturn *
Fri. March 4 – Nashville, TN @ Cannery Ballroom *
Sat. March 5 – St. Louis, MO @ The Pageant *
Mon. March 7 – Lawrence, KS @ Liberty Hall *
Tue. March 8 – Omaha, NE @ The Waiting Room *
Thu. March 10 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue *
Fri. March 11 – Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall *
Sat. March 12 – Chicago, IL @ The Riviera Theatre *
Sun. March 13 – Detroit, MI @ MOCAD *
Tue. Mar. 15 – Millvale, PA @ Mr. Smalls Theatre *
Wed. Mar. 16 – Cleveland, OH @ Agora Theatre *
Thu. March 17 – Toronto, ON @ Queen Elizabeth Theatre *
Fri. March 18 – Montreal, QC @ Corona Theatre *
Thu. March 31 – Boston, MA @ Royale #
Fri. April 1 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel $
Sat. April 2 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel #
Mon. April 4 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club #
Tue. April 5 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Fillmore %
Wed. April 20 – Denver, CO @ Ogden Theater
Fri. April 22 – Seattle, WA @ Showbox at the Market
Sat. April 23 – Vancouver, BC @ Vogue Theatre
Mon. April 25 – Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom
Wed. April 27 – Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater
Thu. April 28 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern Theatre
Fri. April 29 – Pomona, CA @ The Glass House
Sat. April 30 – San Diego, CA @ The Observatory North Park
Sat. May 21 – Paris, FR @ La Trianon
Sun. May 22 – Antwerp, BE @ Trix
Tue. May 24 – Cologne, DE @ Stollwerck
Wed. May 25 – Berlin, DE @ Heimathafen Neukölln
Fri. May 27 – Hamburg, DE @ Uebel & Gefährlich
Sat. May 28 – Nijmegen, NL @ Doornroosje
Mon. May 30 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso
Tue. May 31 – Lille, FR @ Le Grand Mix
Wed. June 1 – Lyon, FR @ Epicerie Moderne
Fri. June 3 – Barcelona, ES @ Primavera Sound
Wed. June 8 – Brighton, UK @ Chalk
Thu. June 9 – London, UK @ Brixton O2 Academy
Sat. June 11 – Dublin, IE @ Helix
Sun. June 12 – Manchester, UK @ Albert Hall
Mon. June 13 – Leeds, UK @ Stylus
Wed. June 15 – Glasgow, UK @ The Barrowland Ballroom
Thu. June 16 – Birmingham, UK @ O2 Institute

^ w/ P.E.
! w/ Public Practice
* w/ Mdou Moctar
# w/ Hailu Mergia
% w/ Sun Ra Arkestra
$ w/ Yu Su