June 7 Portland, OR
June 8 Seattle, WA
June 9 Richland, WA
June 11 San Francisco, CA
June 13 Los Angeles, CA
June 14 San Diego, CA
June 15 Tempe, AZ
-
July 5 Austin, TX
July 6 Dallas, TX
July 7 Houston, TX
-
July 25 - Boston, MA
-
October 10 Tampa, FL
-
October 25 Athens, GA
-
November 22 London, UK
November 23 Liverpool, UK
November 24 Coventry, UK
November 26 Prague, CZ
November 27 Vienna, AT
November 28 Budapest, HU
November 29 Zagreb, HR
November 30 Bologna, IT
December 1 Milan, IT
December 3 Paris, FR
December 5 Bielefeld, DE
December 6 Hamburg, DE
December 7 Berlin, DE

WWW.HOUSEOFHARM.COM/TOUR

MELT-BANANA, the Tokyo-based duo comprising vocalist YAKO and guitarist AGATA, is set to ignite stages across the United States with their electrifying performances in anticipation of the August 23 release of their eagerly anticipated eighth studio album, 3 + 5.

This pair has carved out a unique niche in the global music scene over their illustrious 25-year career with a back catalogue that’s been as diverse as it is unexpected. Over the course of seven studio albums, two live albums, and enough singles to fill two compilations, MELT-BANANA has created a body of work that appeals to Hardcore Punks, Noise-Rockers and afficionados of avant-garde alike. Their live performances have taken them into the deepest depths of the music underground around the world as well as to high profile shows opening for the likes of MGMT, Tool, and Wire.

As they were putting the finishing touches on their new album, MELT-BANANA decided that rather than keeping fans waiting they’d start touring well in advance of its release and continue well afterwards. The "3 + 5" tour kicks off in the United States in late May, then hits the U.K. in late August bringing audiences an unforgettable live experience marked by their signature blend of primal energy and wild sonic experimentation.

http://www.melt-banana.net/

https://www.patreon.com/melt_banana

https://www.facebook.com/Melt-Banana-192954987398661/

https://www.youtube.com/user/xxxMELTBANANAxxx

https://twitter.com/melt_banana/

https://www.instagram.com/melt_banana/

http://www.a-zap.com/

U.S. tour

May 21 - Goldfield Trading Post - Sacramento, CA (#, %)

May 23 - The Crocodile - Seattle, WA (#, %)

May 24 - Hawthorne Theatre - Portland, OR (#, %)

May 25 - Neurolux - Boise, ID (#, %)

May 26 - Urban Lounge - Salt Lake City, UT (#, %)

May 27 - Meow Wolf - Denver, CO (#, %)

May 29 - xBk Live - Des Moines, IA (#, %)

May 30 - Fine Line Music Hall - Minneapolis, MN ($, #, %)

May 31 - High Noon Saloon - Madison, WI ($, #, %)

June 01 - Bottom Lounge - Chicago, IL ($, #, %)

June 02 - Grog Shop - Cleveland Heights, OH ($, #, %)

June 04 - The Sinclair - Cambridge, MA ($, #, %)

June 05 - Elsewhere Hall - Brooklyn, NY ($, #, %)

June 06 - Underground Arts - Philadelphia, PA ($, #, %)

June 07 - Metro Gallery - Baltimore, MD ($, #, %)

June 08 - The Broadberry - Richmond, VA (#, %)

June 09 - Eulogy - Asheville, NC (#, %)

June 10 - Terminal West - Atlanta, GA (#, %)

June 12 - Chelsea's Live - Baton Rouge, LA (#, %)

June 13 - White Oak Music Hall Upstairs - Houston, TX (#, %)

June 14 - Deep Ellum Art Co. - Dallas, TX (#, %)

June 15 - Empire Control Room - Austin, TX (#, %)

June 18 - Meow Wolf - Santa Fe, NM (#, %)

June 19 - The Rebel Lounge - Phoenix, AZ (#, %, +)

June 20 - Music Box - San Diego, CA (#, %, +)

June 21 - El Rey Theatre - Los Angeles, CA (#, %, +)

June 22 - Great American Music Hall - San Francisco, CA (#, %)

With TOMATO FLOWER (noted as: #)・BABYBABY_EXPLORES (noted as: %)・ THE FLYING LUTTENBACHERS (noted as: $)・SQUIDPISSER (noted as: +)

U.K. tour

Aug 29 - Music Hall - Ramsgate

Aug 30 - Supersonic Festival - Birmingham

Aug 31 - Rescue Rooms - Nottingham

Sep 01 - Docks Academy - Grimsby 

Sep 04 - Brudenell Social Club - Leeds

Sep 05 - Rebellion - Manchester

Sep 06 - Future Yard - Birkenhead

Sep 07 - The Parish - Huddersfield

Sep 08 - The Adelphi - Hull  

Sep 10 - The Brickyard - Carlisle

Sep 11 - Mash House - Edinburgh

Sep 12 - Stereo - Glasgow

Sep 13 - The Cluny - Newcastle

Sep 14 - Waterfront - Norwich

Sep 15 - Arts Centre - Colchester

Sep 17 - The Baths - Ipswich

Sep 18 - Portland Arms - Cambridge

Sep 19 - Esquires - Bedford

Sep 20 - The Bullingdon - Oxford

Sep 21 - South Street Arts Centre - Reading

Sep 22 - The Cavern - Exeter

Sep 24 - The Globe - Cardiff

Sep 25 - Strange Brew - Bristol

Sep 26 - Concorde 2 - Brighton

Sep 27 - Dingwalls - London

European Tour Dates

Apr 19 Athens GR @ The Temple
Apr 21 Tilburg NL @ Roadburn Festival
Apr 22 London UK @ Downstairs at The Dome
Apr 23 Manchester UK @ Band On The Wall
Apr 24 Bristol UK @ The Exchange
Apr 25 Hastings UK @ The Pig
Apr 26 Liege BE @ La Zone
Apr 27 Ludwigshafen DE @ Kulturzentrum Das Haus

North American Tour Dates

Jun 26 Chapel Hill NC @ Local 506
Jun 27 Asheville NC @ Eulogy
Jun 28 Richmond VA @ Richmond Music Hall
Jun 29 Baltimore MD @ Ottobar
Jun 30 Philadelphia PA @ PhilaMOCA
Jul 02 New York NY @ Le Poisson Rouge
Jul 03 Boston MA @ Crystal Ballroom
Jul 05 Montreal QC @ Bar Le Ritz
Jul 06 Toronto ON @ The Monarch
Jul 10 Chicago IL @ Empty Bottle

SWANS have today announced a United States tour for April and May 2024, following European dates. The band SOLD OUT all but two of their 2023 North American tour. The tour details, which are shared on the heels of a triumphant tour across Europe, N America, and the UK, will see the current incarnation of Swans perform– starting from April 12 through to mid-May. Full details below.

SWANS – UNITED STATES TOUR 2024

4/12/2024    Washington  DC    Howard Theatre

4/13/2024    Philadelphia PA     Union Transfer

4/14/2024    Richmond    VA     The Broadberry               

4/16/2024    Nashville      TN     Blue Room at Third Man

4/18/2024    Atlanta         GA    Variety Playhouse

4/20/2024    Birmingham AL The Saturn

4/21/2024    New Orleans LA The Civic Theatre       

4/23/2024    Houston       TX     White Oak Music Hall

4/24/2024    San Antonio TX     Paper Tiger

4/25/2024    Albuquerque NM    Sunshine Theater   

4/27/2024    Las Vegas   NV     Sick New World Festival

4/29/2024    Los Angeles CA     Lodge Room

5/2/2024      San Francisco        CA     Great American Music Hall

5/5/2024      Salt Lake City         UT     Soundwell    

5/7/2024      Denver        CO    Gothic Theatre       

5/9/2024      Kansas City MO    Record Bar

5/10/2024    St. Louis               MO    Delmar Hall

5/11/2024    Chicago,               IL      Cabaret Metro       

5/14/2024    Boston                  MA    Paradise               

5/16/2024    New York              NY     Racket 

5/17/2024    Brooklyn               NY     Music Hall of Williamsburg 

Praise for SWANS' 2023 live shows

“A religious experience” – Everett True, live review for Classic Rock

“In my 16 or so years of watching live music, I’ve probably averaged over 50 acts each year. During that time I’ve seen jazz quartets, singer songwriters, metal bands, Afro-beat acts, superstar DJs, UK rap’s finest and some of the biggest artists in the world. However, I’ve never seen anything during that time that remotely compares to the experience of seeing Swans… Witnessing the famed avant-garde, experimental noise-manipulating band was as close to a cathartic experience from watching live music as one can get.” – Yorkshire Evening Post live review

 “At their best, Swans live shows are about as close to a religious experience as it gets outside of actual religious experiences, and I’m not even sure they’re not the same thing anyway. And this is definitely Swans at their best.” – Freq.org live review

“Needless to say, the entire audience was transfixed” – Bust magazine live review

The tour follows the release of Swans’ sixteenth studio album, The Beggar, out now on Mute / Young God Records (N America) on double vinyl in a brown chipboard sleeve (with a download card for accessing an additional 44 minutes of music, also included on the album's CD version), as a double CD in a brown chipboard digi-pack, and digitally.

The Beggar was recorded and mixed at Candy Bomber Studio, Berlin, engineered by Ingo Krauss and mastered by Doug Henderson at Micro-Moose, Berlin. The album was written and produced by Michael Gira and features contributions from recent and former Swans, members of Angels of Light, as well as Guest Swan Ben Frost.

“After numerous pandemic-induced cancellations of tours for the previous Swans album leaving meaning, and an apparent bottomless pit of waiting, waiting, waiting, and the strange disorientation that came with this sudden but interminable forced isolation I decided it was time to write songs for a new Swans album and forget about everything else. They came relatively easily, always informed by the suspicion that these could be my last. When I finally was able to travel, songs in hand, to Berlin to work with my friends recording this record, the feeling was akin to the moment in The Wizard of Oz when the film changes from Black and White to Color. Now I’m feeling quite optimistic. My favourite color is pink. I hope you enjoy the album.” – Michael Gira

Primary contributors to The Beggar:

Michael Gira – Vocals, words, acoustic guitar, production. Gira started Swans in NYC in 1982 and has been the primary songwriter, singer and producer throughout the years. During the Swans hiatus (1999 – 2010), he released several albums by and toured with a group called Angels of Light. Gira recently published a book of his short stories, journals, and words for music, called The Knot. He lives in New Mexico.

Kristof Hahn – Lap steel, various guitars, vocals. Kristof first joined Swans in 1989 and was a principal contributor to Angels of Light, and a core Swans member 2010 – 2017. Kristof’s other musical ventures have included the Rock ‘n’ Roll Noir band Les Hommes Sauvages and Kool Kings (with Alex Chilton). When not making music Kristof translates books. He lives in Berlin, Germany.

Larry Mullins - Drums, vibes, orchestral percussion, Mellotron, various keyboards, backing vocals. Larry is a trained symphonic percussionist. He played through the ‘90s with Iggy Pop and later with The Stooges. He played with Swans in the late ‘90s and was a main contributor to Angels of Light. His current main job is playing drums with The Bad Seeds. Larry lives in Berlin, Germany.

Dana Schechter – Bass guitar, lap steel, keyboards, vocals, piano. Dana played bass in and was a core member of Angels of Light. She subsequently released music and toured as Bee and Flower. Her current band is the power-duo, Insect Ark. Dana is an animator and designer in the film industry and currently lives in Berlin, Germany.

Christopher Pravdica - Bass guitar, sounds, keyboards, vocals. Chris played bass as a core Swans member in 2010 – 2017. Chris has played with the bands, The Gunga Din, Flux Information Sciences, Xiu Xiu, Yonatan Gat, Medicine Singers and has a project of his own called We Owe. Chris is a sound designer and lives in Brooklyn, NY.

Phil Puleo – Drums, percussion, vocals, piano, exotic wind instruments. Phil played drums with Swans in the late ‘90s and was a core member in Swans 2010 – 2017 and contributed to Angels of Light. Phil’s early NYC musical venture was Cop Shoot Cop and has since played with Human Impact, among others. Phil is an extremely talented illustrator and lives in Chicago, IL. 

Ben Frost - Guitar, synthesizers, sound manipulations. In his own work, Ben’s adventurous sound-craftings are sometimes harrowing and sometimes delicate and quite musical. His numerous albums and his powerful live shows have afforded him much recognition. He is also an accomplished composer and arranger of music for film and television. Ben lives in Reykjavik, Iceland.

Backing vocals are provided by Jennifer Gira, Lucy Kruger and Laura Carbone.

Michael Gira founded the groundbreaking NYC band Swans in 1982. Initially notorious for their relentless, brutal, high-volume onslaughts of sound, the extreme, abject imagery of Gira’s lyrics and his thundering vocals, Swans would undergo a series of startling transformation over the next 15 years. Following the punishing Filth and Cop albums, the ensemble would venture into harshly mechanical proto-industrial rock of their Greed period, then both haunted atmospheric idylls and martial stomps on 1987’s landmark Children of God double album. They’d conjure gentler acoustic-based meditations on The Burning World (1989), then after relocating to Atlanta grand, melody-dense sonic whirlwinds of the White Light from the Mouth of Infinity (1991) and Love of Life (1993) era, becoming more dissonant and sharp-edged with The Great Annihilator (1994). Finally, the ultimate statement of that epoch of Swans, Soundtracks For The Blind (1996), incorporated all of these elements across well over two hours of music. At this point, Gira called it quits after 15 years of non-stop recording and touring, disbanding the group. For the next 13 years, he’d make a long series of acclaimed albums and perform live extensively with a revolving roster of musicians under the name Angels Of Light. Gira also discovered, produced and released albums by other musicians through his label Young God Records. He cultivated such talents as Devendra Banhart and Akron/Family among others, the original figures of the late 00’s Avant-folk movement.

In 2010, he reactivated Swans, releasing the studio album My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky to ecstatic critical response and touring the world for the better part of a year. The Seer, a triple album studio set, came out in 2012 and was celebrated by another lengthy world tour eliciting more media praise and album sales that landed The Seer on Billboard’s Top 200. Swans’ next release, To Be Kind (another triple vinyl) debuted at #36 on Billboard’s Top 200 Sales Chart and #5 on their Independent Sales Chart. The group sold out 47 concert dates in their subsequent touring including selling out two-night stands in cities including New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Paris, as well as single shows in London, Berlin and Rome. The album garnered enormous praise from the press, and the two-hour long album stream was premiered by NPR. The Glowing Man (2017) (also triple vinyl) was the last studio release by this incarnation of Swans. With 2019’s Leaving Meaning, the 15^th studio album, Gira returned to working with a fluid supporting cast of musicians once again.

The Beggar tracklisting

1. The Parasite

2. Paradise is Mine

3. Los Angeles: City of Death

4. Michael is Done

5. Unforming

6. The Beggar

7. No More of This

8. Ebbing

9. Why Can't I Have What I Want Any Time That I Want?

10. The Beggar Lover (Three)

11. The Memorious

Listen to The Beggar: https://mute.ffm.to/swans_tb

Praise for The Beggar

“…dark and unsettling, purifying and beautiful” - The Guardian 4/5* review of The Beggar

“…delivers a ritualistic euphoria” - Uncut 8/10*

“…uncompromising and brilliant” - MOJO 4/5*

“…beautifully heavy” - The Guardian Saturday Magazine

“a gargantuan demonstration of just how far Swans have come and how huge they’ve become” - Classic Rock 8/10*

“This keenness not to stand still artistically has remained a constant throughout Swans’ history, and so it is no surprise that there is plenty that is new and interesting on The Beggar.” - The Arts Desk Disc of the Day

https://www.instagram.com/swans_official/

https://www.facebook.com/SwansOfficial/

https://www.youtube.com/user/OfficialSwans/playlists

https://open.spotify.com/artist/79S80ZWgVhIPMCHuvl6SkA

https://younggodrecords.com

https://mute.com