It seems this year has been rife with tour speculations due in large part to the hype and suspense surrounding festivals like Splendour In The Grass and All Tomorrow’s Parties. While some may have hedged their bets correctly, it’s fair to say few would have put money on 90s icona-band Neutral Milk Hotel partaking in a reunion tour.
Now, the day millions of fans have dreamt of is finally here with frontman, principal songwriter, and breaker of hearts, Jeff Mangum having announced the band’s first official tour in 15 years, as Pitchfork reports.
Best of all for Australian fans, according to The Vine, Australian dates have indeed been confirmed as part of the influential lo-fi folk pioneers’ reunion plans.
They state “the reunited Neutral Milk Hotel are confirmed for an Australian tour later this year. Our (very reliable) source tells us that their forthcoming Australian shows were the first confirmed dates on this reunion tour.”
There are no Australian dates officially revealed with Neutral Milk Hotel’s surprise announcement, with a handful of dates confirmed, beginning with a pair of shows in October at the The 40 Watt Club in Atlanta, Georgia.
While Mangum has partaken in a few sporadic solo shows since the band’s last long player release in 1998, the influential In The Aeroplane Over The Sea, the newly announced shows will feature the original 90s touring lineup of Scott Spillane, Julian Koster, and Jeremy Barnes.
Aside from the coherent tour announcement of a series of American shows and international dates, the band’s website also posted this cryptic little ditty:
and of water course womb rume is a wandering the welkin woman whose fune caul is all umbilical cord code that comes equipped with read volve vît curtains that čun seel my văl én tich radio reason in remembrance of mademoiselle gabrielle and her wone tym pad lock of burd language as it borders on twin tolk the wolk king wall of woolpack pigeons pointing to the fly blind readers riddle and his rian boh.”
Joining the iconic band on the road for what’s sure to be one of the biggest reunion tours of the year will be lo-fi rocker Jad Fair, or more accurately the artist formally known as Half Japanese. Though the band was originally made up of Fair and his brother David, along with a rotating cast of cow-bell clangers and drum smashers, in recent years the frontman has been performing under the moniker solo.
During their appearance at Minehead’s All Tomorrow’s Parties last year (which was, not surprisingly, curated by Neuatral Milk Hotel), the formation was made up of the Fair brothers, John Dreyfuss, and Mark Jickling. No word yet on whether or not Jad Fair will be joined by any former band members on the 2013-2014 tour dates. Best of all for Australian fans, according to The Vine, Australian dates have indeed been confirmed as part of the influential lo-fi folk pioneers’ reunion plans.
Along with Half Japanese, singer songwriter Daniel Johnston will be making appearances at some of the shows.
Having released over 20 LPs in his long career, Johnston has been the subject of (one of the best tribute) albums of all time 2004’s The Late Great Daniel Johnston: Discovered Covered, which featured covers of his songs by artists such as Tom Waits, Beck, TV On The Radio, Eels, Bright Eyes, Death Cab for Cutie, Sparklehorse, Mercury Rev, The Flaming Lips, and (full circle) Half Japanese’s Jad Fair.
Rounding out the announced supports is Georgia’s indie-rockers and fellow Elephant 6ers, Elf Power. With Mangum and other Neutral Milk Hotel band members having helped record some of Elf Power’s records, including 1996’s When The Red King Comes.
While only a few dates have been confirmed so far, the band have teased that there will be more announcements to come, which along with The Vine‘s promise of Australian dates has left fans wondering if the band will formally confirm that they’ll be venturing south of the equator for some shows, or at the very least – a festival appearance.
Considering the band have confirmed a show in Japan for 1st December, it could make Mangum and co. eligible for some summer festivals in Australia. While the dates line up with January’s Big Day Out, as a well as November’s Taiwanese date lining up with Harvest, the musical pioneers would be far more suited to Victoria’s iconic Meredith Music Festival.
Let’s all just take a moment to imagine that. Aussie fans can only hope.
Neutral Milk Hotel 2013 Tour Dates
10-22 Athens, GA – 40 Watt Club *
10-23 Athens, GA – 40 Watt Club #
10-25 Asheville, NC – Thomas Wolfe Auditorium #!
11-28 Taipei, Taiwan – Hostess Club Taipei
12-01 Tokyo, Japan – Hostess Club Weekender
* with Elf Power
# with Half Japanese
! with Daniel Johnston
