I’ve been hearing about so many great tours lately and so I thought I would compile a list of the best of them. So this is the best of the best. Do not miss these. Thanks to Pitchfork for making this a whole lot easier.

1. Nine Inch Nails

Nine Inch Nails are one of my favorite bands. In addition to making great music, Trent Reznor has become kind of a technology guru and is known as someone that is knowledgeable about new trends and more or less “what the kids are up to.” Every time I have been set to go see them something comes up and I miss it. So this is the farewell tour and I cannot miss this. I’ve heard their shows are amazing and after watching Beside You in Time I can understand why. My guess is Trent will enjoy the married life for a while and probably produce some albums, but the future of NIN is uncertain. Here are the final tour dates:

07-11 Kinross, Scotland – T in the Park Festival
07-12 Naas, Ireland – Oxegen Festival
07-14 Manchester, England – M.E.N. Arena *$
07-15 London, England – O2 Arena *$
07-18 Istanbul, Turkey – Rock N Coke Festival
07-20 Athens, Greece – Vrahon Theater *^
07-22 Rome, Italy – Rockinrome
07-24 Budapest, Hungary – Syma Sport and Event Centre ^
07-25 Targu Mures – Peninsula Festival
07-28 Nimes, France – Festival de Nimes ^
07-30 Madrid, Spain – La Riviera ^
07-31 Paredes de Coura, Portugal – Paredes de Coura Festival
08-02 Knebworth, England – Sonisphere Festival
08-05 Manila, Phillipines – Araneta Coliseum &
08-07 Tokyo, Japan – Summer Sonic Festival
08-08 Osaka, Japan – Summer Sonic Festival
08-10 Singapore, Singapore – Fort Canning Park
08-12 Taipei, Taiwan – Nan-Kang 101
08-22 New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom +
08-23 New York, NY – Webster Hall +
08-25 New York, NY – Terminal 5 +
08-26 New York, NY – Terminal 5
08-28 Chicago, IL – Aragon Ballroom $
08-29 Chicago, IL – Aragon Ballroom $
09-02 Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Palladium $
09-03 Los Angeles, CA – Henry Fonda Theater $
09-05 Los Angeles, CA – Wiltern Theatre
09-06 Los Angeles, CA – Echoplex

* with Jane’s Addiction
$ with Mew
^ with Alec Empire
& with Pupil
+ with The Horrors

Hopefully I will be catching one of the Aragon Ballroom shows. Also they have a Sonic Youth-like tendency to pick great opening bands (Mew, The Horrors), so get there early

2. Monotonix

I have mentioned Monotonix before because I have seen them twice and they put on an amazing live show each time. They look like gypsies from the Middle East probably because…well that’s what they are. Beware of flying objects and bring a change of clothes, but don’t miss them

07-16 Dour, Belgium – Dour Festival
07-17 Angoulême, France – Garden Nef Festival
07-18 Coney Island, NY – Siren Music Festival
07-22 Milan, Italy – Parklife Festival
07-23 Belfast, Northern Ireland – The Menagerie
07-24 Dublin, Ireland – Crawdaddy
07-25 Birmingham, England – Supersonic Festival
08-07 Myslowice, Poland – Off Festival
08-09 Aulnoye Aymeries, France – Festival Les Nuits Secretes
08-12 Oslo, Norway – Oya Festival
08-14 Gotëberg, Sweden – Way Out West Festival
08-16 Leicester, England – Summer Sundae Festival
08-17 Norwich, England – The Marquee
08-18 York, England – Fibbers
08-19 Edinburgh, Scotland – Sneaky Pete’s
08-20 Glasgow, Scotland – Stereo
08-21 Brighton, England – Engine Room
08-22 Bristol, England – Start the Bus
08-24 London, England – The Garage
09-01 Tel Aviv, Israel – Bitan 1
09-13 Morrison, CO – Red Rocks Amphitheater (Monolith Festival)
09-15 San Diego, CA – Casbah
09-16 Los Angeles, CA – The Smell
09-17 San Francisco, CA – Independent
09-18 Portland, OR – Roseland Theater (MusicfestNW)
09-19 Seattle, WA – Neumo’s
09-20 Olympia, WA – The Big Room
09-21 Vancouver, WA – Biltmore Cabaret
09-22 Boise, ID – Visual Arts Collective
09-24 Denton, TX – Rubber Gloves
09-25 Austin, TX – Emo’s
09-26 Houston, TX – Super Happy Fun Land
09-27 New Orleans, LA – One Eyed Jack’s
09-28 Baton Rouge, LA – Spanish Moon
09-29 Memphis, TN – Hi Tone $
09-30 Indianapolis, IN – Murphy Building Studio 8 $
10-01 Madison, WI – High Noon Saloon $
10-02 Minneapolis, MN – The Triple Rock $
10-03 Chicago, IL – Logan Square Auditorium $
10-04 Detroit, MI – - Magic Stick $
10-05 Cleveland, OH – - Now That’s Class $
10-06 Rochester, NY – The Bug Jar
10-07 Toronto, Ontario – TBA
10-09 New York, NY – Santos’ Party House $
10-10 Brooklyn, NY – Market Hotel $
10-11 Philadelphia, PA – First Unitarian Church $
10-13 Washington, DC – Rock and Roll Hotel $
10-14 Richmond, VA – Plaza Bowl $
10-15 Raleigh, NC – The Pour House $
10-16 Birmingham AL – The Bottletree $
10-17 Nashville, TN – Exit/In

$ with Turbo Fruits

Here are my photos from their insane show at SXSW.

3. Frightened Rabbit, Twilight Sad, and We Were Promised Jetpacks

Frightened Rabbit

The Twilight Sad

We Were Promised Jetpacks

Scottish rock. It is awesome. More on this later because I have been obsessed with it lately. FatCat Records has hit a creative goldmine with these three bands and seeing them on tour is a must.

The Twilight Sad:

07-09 London, England – ICA
07-12 Balado, Scotland – T in the Park
07-18 Newcastle, England – The Cluny
09-14 Salt Lake City, UT – Urban Lounge ^
09-15 Boise, ID – Neurolux ^
09-16 Seattle, WA – Neumo’s ^
09-17 Portland, OR – Dante’s (Musicfest NW) ^
09-18 San Francisco, CA – The Independent ^
09-20 Los Angeles, CA – Knitting Factory ^
09-22 Tucson, AZ – Plush ^
09-24 Austin, TX – Mohawk ^
09-26 Birmingham, AL – Bottletree ^
09-27 Atlanta, GA – The Masquerade ^
09-28 Tallahassee, FL – Club Downunder ^
09-29 Orlando, FL – The Social ^
^ with Frightened Rabbit and We Were Promised Jetpacks

Frightened Rabbit:

07-17 Hoboken, NJ – Maxwell’s !
07-18 Brooklyn, NY – Siren Festival
07-19 Chicago, IL – Pitchfork Festival
07-21 Detroit, MI – Magic Stick
07-22 Toronto, Ontario – Horseshoe Tavern
07-23 Montreal, Quebec – Les Saints
07-24 Providence, RI – Jerky’s
07-25 Northampton, MA – Iron Horse Music Hall
08-18 Edinburgh, Scotland – Queens Hall
08-29 Kelso, Scotland – Rock at the Racecourse
09-12 Morrison, CO – Monolith Festival
09-14 Salt Lake City, UT – Urban Lounge ^*
09-15 Boise, ID – Neurolux ^*
09-16 Seattle, WA – Neumo’s ^*
09-17 Portland, OR – Dante’s (Musicfest NW) ^*
09-18 San Francisco, CA – The Independent ^*
09-20 Los Angeles, CA – Knitting Factory ^*
09-22 Tucson, AZ – Plush ^*
09-24 Austin, TX – Mohawk ^*
09-26 Birmingham, AL – Bottletree ^*
09-27 Atlanta, GA – The Masquerade ^*
09-28 Tallahassee, FL. – Club Downunder ^*
09-29 Orlando, FL – The Social ^*
! with Oxford Collapse
^ with The Twilight Sad
* with We Were Promised Jetpacks

4. Pixies

No dates have been announced for this Pixies tour yet, but they are going to be playing the classic album “Doolittle” in its entirety. According to Spin, they will be playing “Oakland, Los Angeles, Seattle, Denver, Chicago, Boston, Washington DC, New York City, and ‘maybe Montreal’ this fall.” According to a good friend of mine you should see them as soon as you can because “they all hate each other” and might never do this again.
Spin Coverage
Pitchfork Coverage

5. No Age/Deerhunter/Dan Deacon

No Age

Deerhunter

Dan Deacon

It’s not too good to be true. This is happening and apparently they are all going to play at the same time…or something like that. Who knows what the hell is going to happen, but one thing is for sure; you don’t want to miss it. Plus they are coming to Bloomington, which is crazy awesome.

08-01 Medford, NJ – Flying W Airport & Pool
08-02 Brooklyn, NY – Jelly Space 2009
08-03 Millvale, PA – Mr. Smalls Theatre
08-04 Newport, KY – Southgate House
08-05 Bloomington, IN – Rhino’s
08-06 Madison, WI – UW Madison Memorial Terrace
08-07 Milwaukee, WI – Turner Hall Ballroom

Don’t forget about the other great bands that I haven’t included here but are on tour now (Dinosaur Jr, The Dead Weather, Pitchfork Music Festival, etc.)