Not to be outdone by colleagues Maynard James Keenan and Josh Homme, A Perfect Circle/Queens of the Stone Age guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen is ready to make some noise with a project of his own — that project we introduced you to last year, Sweethead. The rock band includes a couple of Mark Lanegan’s bandmates in drummer Norm Block and bassist Eddie Nappi, along with Serrina Sims, who provided backing vocals on the last QotSA album Era Vulgaris.
Sweethead, which takes its name from a David Bowie b-side (why didn’t I/you/they think of that?), is releasing its eponymous debut full-length May 11th on The End Records.
The band will be surrounding the album with a round of (relatively) local shows, including gigs at Silverlake, California’s Spaceland every Monday in May. The first night, May 3rd, was sponsored by Buddyhead, while the last night, May 24th, is being billed as a “family night” — meaning Sweethead will be joined by Mini Mansions (fronted by QotSA bassist Michael Shuman), former QotSA member Alain Johannes, and a “very special guest.” Uh, so it’s pretty clear which of the four Mondays should hold the highest priority. Not that openers Ashes Divide, Slang Chickens, Earthlings? and Red Fang won’t be cool.
The rest of the U.S. mini-tour includes dates in Long Beach, San Diego, and Las Vegas. Sweethead will also be traveling to Europe for a good week’s worth of shows in June, hitting the Rock Am Ring/Rock Im Park festivals before closing the tour June 11th at Download Festival. Van Leeuwen is likely to head back to Germany soon after, because that other band of his has some tour dates in August.
Check out the following video of the track “Traumatized and Dumb”, featuring footage of last year’s European tour with Them Crooked Vultures and Eagles of Death Metal. Full tour dates below the video; tickets are available on Ticketmaster.
Sweethead 2010 Tour Dates:
05/03 – Silverlake, CA @ Spaceland
05/10 – Silverlake, CA @ Spaceland
05/17 – Silverlake, CA @ Spaceland
05/20 – Las Vegas, NV @ Hard Rock/Wasted Space
05/21 – Long Beach, CA @ Alex’s Bar
05/24 – Silverlake, CA @ Spaceland
05/25 – San Diego, CA @ Casbah
06/04 – Nürnberg, DE @ Rock Im Park Festival
06/05 – Berlin, DE @ White Trash
06/06 – Nürburg, DE @ Rock Am Ring Festival
06/07 – Hamburg, DE @ Molotov
06/08 – Utrecht, NL @ Helling
06/09 – Paris, FR @ La Maroquinerie
06/10 – London, UK @ 100 Club
06/11 – Leicestershire, UK @ Download Festival
