The Decemberists’ most recent full-length, The Hazards of Love, is, as frontman Colin Meloy describes it, a “continuous story… an amalgam of motifs from folk songs, an experiment of weaving them together into a narrative.,” and in the end, the tale of a woman named Margaret; her shape-shifting lover, William; his fey forest queen mother; and a cold-blooded, lascivious rake, who recounts with spine-tingling ease how he came “to be living so easy and free” in “The Rake’s Song”.
Aside from making for one hell of a concept album, the album also works as a synchronized piece of animation. At least that’s what The Decemberists will be going for on October 19th when the outfit takes to UCLA’s Royce Hall in Los Angeles to debut its latest endeavor…
This unique live experience will feature The Decemberists in collaboration with four filmmakers—Guilherme Marcondes, Julia Pott, Peter Sluszka and Santa Maria—each of whom have created animation to accompany a section of the music. Presented in association with Flux, the event will also be a benefit for The GRAMMY Foundation®’s Grammy In The Schools® music education programs for high school students.
And if that’s not enough to make your brain go numb, the band will also play an additional second set of older and newer material following the synchronized animation.
A limited pre-sale will begin at 10:00am PT on Wednesday, September 16th at Musictoday. General tickets will go on sale on Friday, September 18th.
Find all The Decemberists’ upcoming dates below…
The Decemberists 2009 Tour Dates:
09/18 – Orono, ME @ University of Maine ^
09/19 – New York, NY @ Terminal 5 ^
09/20 – Burlington, VT @ Flynn Theater ^
09/21 – Montclair, NJ @ Wellmont Theater ^
09/23 – Norfolk, VA @ The NorVa ^
09/24 – Charlottesville, VA @ Charlottesville Pavilion ^
09/25 – Asheville, NC @ Thomas Wolf Auditorium ^
09/26 – Atlanta, GA @ The Class Center ^
09/27 – Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium ^
09/29 – St. Augustine, FL @ St. Augustine Amphitheater ^
09/30 – Orlando, FL @ Hard Rock Live ^
10/02 – Houston, TX @ House of Blues ^
10/03 – Austin, TX @ Austin City Limits
10/04 – Tulsa, OK @ Cain’s Ballroom ^
10/06 – Lexington, KY @ University of Kentucky ^
10/07 – Columbia, MO @ Ninth St. Fall Fest
10/08 – Chicago, IL @ Riveria Theatre ^
10/09 – Minneapolis, MN @ State Theatre ^
10/18 – San Francisco, CA @ Treasure Island Festival
10/19 – Los Angeles, CA @ UCLA Royce Hall
11/18 – London, UK @ Forum
11/19 – London, UK @ Coronet
11/21 – The Hague, NL @ Crossing Border Festival
^ = w/ Laura Veirs & the Hall of Flames
