By mayoral decree, August 28 will officially be Kurt Vile Day in Philadelphia! On that date, Kurt will give a free solo performance in City Hall Courtyard at 5:30pm for the season finale of the City Hall Presents summer concert series. Prior to his performance, the City of Philadelphia will present Kurt with the Liberty Bell Award, the highest honor the City can bestow upon one of its citizens. This award is given only to native Philadelphians, and is presented in recognition of outstanding professional achievements and civic generosity. (More information about City Hall Presents, Philadelphia’s free weekly summer concert series, is below.)
Ushering in a summer of commemoration, we begin with the premiere of Kurt’s new video for “KV Crimes,” directed by Tom Scharpling, in which Kurt is regally paraded through the streets of his fair town (mmm, hoagies).
And finally, why not grace you with these beautiful clips of Kurt Vile and the Violators performing at KEXP:
Girl Called Alex
KV Crimes
Wakin on a Pretty Day
Full Performance
City Hall Presents is a series of free events that welcomes the full spectrum of Philadelphia’s performing arts into City Hall Courtyard. Shows are presented on Wednesdays, 5:30-6:30pm throughout the summer, and the entire concert calendar can be found by visiting http://cityhallpresents.creativephl.org. Organized by the City of Philadelphia Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy, these events aim to bring a new vibrancy to the historic building and inspire citizens to become more active in the arts. The program is made possible thanks to support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, as part of its Knight Arts Challenge, as well as the William Penn Foundation.
Kurt Vile and his band The Violators smashed Field Day festival in London (and Primavera, by all accounts), and are currently on the road in Europe. With Field Day being the only UK date in the current run, they’ve just confirmed a UK tour for the end of the year. The December dates look a little something like this:
11th – Shepherds Bush Empire – London (UK) – Tickets
13th – Brudenell Social Club – Leeds (UK) – Tickets
And the long list of current Kurt Vile (& The Violators) dates are:
May 30th – Voxhall – Aarhus, Denmark
May 31st – Rockefeller – Oslo, Norway
June 5th – Beatpol – Dresden, Germany
June 6th – Bi Nuu – Berlin, Germany
June 7th – Gebäude 9 – Köln, Germany
June 8th – La Maroquinerie – Paris, France
June 15th – Hultsfred festival – Stockholm, Sweden
June 17th – Lucerna Music Bar – Prague, Czech Republic
June 18th – WuK – Vienna, Austria
June 19th – Ljubljana Castle – Ljubljana, Solvenia
June 20th – Culture Factory – Zagreb, Croatia
June 22nd – Body & Soul festival – Dublin, Ireland
June 23rd – Best Kept Secret Festival – Hilvarenbeek, Holland
Saturday, June 29 – NYC – 4 Knots Festival – Kurt Vile and the Violators Headline
Friday, July 05 – Montreal, QUE – Le Mondial Lotto Quebec – Centre De La Nature *
Sunday, July 07 – Toronto, ON – Toronto Urban Roots Festival
Tuesday, July 9 – Cleveland, OH – Grog Shop #
Wednesday, July 10 – Detroit, MI – Magic Stick #
Thursday, July 11 – Chicago, IL – Metro #
Friday, July 12 – Indianapolis, IN – The Vogue Theater #
Saturday, July 13 – Louisville, KY – Forecastle Music Festival
Sunday, July 14 – Nashville, TN – Mercy Lounge #
Monday, July 15 – Birmingham, AL – The Bottletree #
Tuesday, July 16 – Atlanta, GA – Terminal West #
Wednesday, July 17 – Asheville, NC – The Grey Eagle #
Thursday, July 18 – Carrboro, NC – Cats Cradle #
Friday, July 19 – Charlottesville, VA – Jefferson Theatre #
Saturday, July 20 – Washington, DC – 9:30 Club #
Saturday, July 27 – Edmonton, AB – Interstellar Rodeo
Sunday, July 28 – Calgary, AB – Calgary Folk Music Festival
Friday, August 02 – Sunday, August 4 – Happy Valley, OR – Pickathon
Monday, August 05 – Seattle, WA – Showbox At The Market
Tuesday, August 06 – Vancouver, BC – Rickshaw Theater
Friday, August 09 – Sunday, August 11 – San Francisco, CA – Outside Lands
Tuesday, August 13 – Salt Lake City, UT – Urban Lounge
Thursday, August 15 – Denver, CO – Bluebird Cafe
Friday, August 16 – Lawrence, KS – The Granada
Saturday, August 17 – St. Louis, MO – Firebird
Monday, August 19 – Dallas, TX – Trees
Tuesday, August 20 – Austin, TX – Mohawk (Outside)
Friday, August 23 – Albuquerque, NM – Sister
Saturday, August 24 – Phoenix, AZ – Crescent Ballroom
Sunday, August 25 – Los Angeles, CA – FYF Fest
Wednesday, August 28 – Philadelphia, PA – City Hall Concert Series – (Solo Performance) – RSVP here
Thursday, September 05 – Saturday, September 07 – Raleigh, NC – Hopscotch Music Festival
Saturday, October 12 – Mexico City, Mexico – Corona Capital Music Festival
* = Supporting The Black Keys
# = Swirlies supporting
Live at Union Transfer, Philadelphia. Photo Courtesy: Jeffrey Sidelsky
Road warriors, Kurt Vile and the Violators, are adding some more dates to their summer touring. This new batch of dates are in August and include the Pickathon Festival (Happy Valley, OR), Outside Lands (San Francisco, CA), and FYF Fest (Los Angeles, CA). New dates below in bold. And note Swirlies now supporting on a host of the July dates!
In addition Kurt will be closing out Philadelphia’s City Hall Presents concert series on August 28 in the City Hall Courtyard (of the City of Brotherly Love). You can RSVP to this event here. And further information on the series is here.
Kurt Vile and the Violators Tour Dates:
Saturday, June 29 – NYC – 4 Knots Festival – Kurt Vile and the Violators Headline
Friday, July 05 – Montreal, QUE – Le Mondial Lotto Quebec – Centre De La Nature *
Sunday, July 07 – Toronto, ON – Toronto Urban Roots Festival
Tuesday, July 9 – Cleveland, OH – Grog Shop #
Wednesday, July 10 – Detroit, MI – Magic Stick #
Thursday, July 11 – Chicago, IL – Metro #
Friday, July 12 – Indianapolis, IN – The Vogue Theater #
Saturday, July 13 – Louisville, KY – Forecastle Music Festival
Sunday, July 14 – Nashville, TN – Mercy Lounge #
Monday, July 15 – Birmingham, AL – The Bottletree #
Tuesday, July 16 – Atlanta, GA – Terminal West #
Wednesday, July 17 – Asheville, NC – The Grey Eagle #
Thursday, July 18 – Carrboro, NC – Cats Cradle #
Friday, July 19 – Charlottesville, VA – Jefferson Theatre #
Saturday, July 20 – Washington, DC – 9:30 Club #
Saturday, July 27 – Edmonton, AB – Interstellar Rodeo
Sunday, July 28 – Calgary, AB – Calgary Folk Music Festival
Friday, August 02 – Sunday, August 4 – Happy Valley, OR – Pickathon Monday, August 05 – Seattle, WA – Showbox At The Market Tuesday, August 06 – Vancouver, BC – Rickshaw Theater
Friday, August 09 – Sunday, August 11 – San Francisco, CA – Outside Lands Tuesday, August 13 – Salt Lake City, UT – Urban Lounge Thursday, August 15 – Denver, CO – Bluebird Cafe Friday, August 16 – Lawrence, KS – The Granada Saturday, August 17 – St. Louis, MO – Firebird Monday, August 19 – Dallas, TX – Trees Tuesday, August 20 – Austin, TX – Mohawk (Outside) Friday, August 23 – Albuquerque, NM – Sister Saturday, August 24 – Phoenix, AZ – Crescent Ballroom
Sunday, August 25 – Los Angeles, CA – FYF Fest
Wednesday, August 28 – Philadelphia, PA – City Hall Concert Series – (Solo Performance) – RSVP here
Thursday, September 05 – Saturday, September 07 – Raleigh, NC – Hopscotch Music Festival
Saturday, October 12 – Mexico City, Mexico – Corona Capital Music Festival
* = Supporting The Black Keys
# = Swirlies supporting
If you missed Kurt Vile making his Ed Sullivan Theater debut last Friday night, here’s the performance of “Wakin On A Pretty Daze” from the amazing album of the same name, available on LP/CD or digital files from the Matador store
In case you’d forgotten (how could you?!) the Kurt Vile and the Violators European tour begins this week. Full ticket links are available over at http://kurtvile.com/live/.
We also just got word that Steve Powers, he of Wakin On A Pretty Daze artwork-fame is exhibiting in Brussels right this second. You can get the full info about the exhibition, which is taking place at the Alice Gallery, over at Arrested Motion.
And to return the favour to Mr Powers, Kurt is going to play an acoustic set at the gallery before his show at the AB, Brussels, on Sunday night – 26th May.
Tune in to CBS tonight around 12:20AM (11:20PM eastern) to see Kurt Vile and the Violators make their network TV debut on The Late Show With David Letterman! They’ll be playing “Wakin On A Pretty Day” from the new album, “Wakin On A Pretty Dave”. Here Kurt is chilling backstage:
Attentive readers will remember that a few weeks ago I promised more details on a mysterious opportunity to once again here Kurt Vile strut his stuff on hometown station WXPN. The time for more details, and strutting, has arrived. TONIGHT, at 9:25PM EDT, Kurt will take to the stage at World Cafe Live to play a special solo set as part of the annual Non-Commvention (Where the AAA Radio Elite Meet to Get Hammered). If you find yourself unlucky enough to not be employed in the field of non-commercial radio (which, all kidding aside, is a pretty great field, as fields go), I encourage you to visit xpn.org or 88.5FM in the City of #BROLO (as the kids say), and give KV your full attention.
In just minutes, Kurt Vile and The Violators will be playing live on Seattle’s KEXP before their sold-out show tonight at Neumo’s. The session starts at 5:00PM EDT/2:00PM EDT, and can be heard at 90.3FM or KEXP.org. Tune in!
Today Kurt laced us with the first official music video from the getting-better-every-day (how does it DO that?) album Wakin On Pretty Daze (buy it here). NPR Music helped out, as did HARRYS, who directed (full video credits below).
Kurt is violating:
Sun-May-05 – Atlanta, GA – Shaky Knees Festival
Tue-May-07 – Los Angeles, CA – Echoplex ***SOLD OUT
Wed-May-08 – San Francisco, CA – Independent ***SOLD OUT
Fri-May-10 – Portland, OR – Doug Fir ***SOLD OUT
Sat-May-11 – Vancouver, BC – Biltmore ***SOLD OUT
Sun-May-12 – Seattle, WA – Neumos
Tue-May-14 – Chicago, IL – Lincoln Hall ***SOLD OUT
Thu-May-16 – New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom ***SOLD OUT
Fri-May-17 – Boston, MA – The Sinclair ***SOLD OUT
Sat-May-18 – Philadelphia, PA – Union Transfer
May 23rd – Kilbi festival – Düdingen, Switzerland
May 24th – Primavera Sound – Barcelona, Spain
May 25th – Field Day – London, UK
May 26th – AB-Box – Brussels, Belgium
May 27th – Paradiso – Amsterdam, Netherlands
May 28th – Knust – Hamburg, Germany
May 29th – Amager Bio – Copenhagen, Denmark
May 30th – Voxhall – Aarhus, Denmark
May 31st – Rockefeller – Oslo, Norway
June 5th – Beatpol – Dresden, Germany
June 6th – Bi Nuu – Berlin, Germany
June 7th – Gebäude 9 – Köln, Germany
June 8th – La Maroquinerie – Paris, France
June 15th – Hultsfred festival – Stockholm, Sweden
June 17th – Lucerna Music Bar – Prague, Czech Republic
June 18th – WuK – Vienna, Austria
June 19th – Ljubljana Castle – Ljubljana, Solvenia
June 20th – Culture Factory – Zagreb, Croatia
June 22nd – Body & Soul festival – Dublin, Ireland
June 23rd – Best Kept Secret Festival – Hilvarenbeek, Holland
Sat-Jun-29 New York, NY 4 Knots Festival
Sun-Jul-07 Toronto, ON Toronto Urban Roots Festival
Tue-Jul-09 Cleveland, OH Grog Shop
Wed-Jul-10 Detroit, MI Magic Stick
Thu-Jul-11 Chicago, IL Metro
Fri-Jul-12 Indianapolis, IN The Vogue
Sat-Jul-13 Louisville, KY Forcastle Music Festival
Sun-Jul-14 Nashville, TN Mercy Lounge
Mon-Jul-15 Birmingham, AL The Bottletree
Wed-Jul-17 Asheville, NC The Grey Eagle
Thu-Jul-18 Carrboro, NC Cats Cradle
Fri-Jul-19 Charlottesville, VA Jefferson Theatre
Sat-Jul-20 Washington, DC 9:30 Club
Sat-Jul-27 Edmonton, AB Interstellar Rodeo
Sun-Jul-28 Calgary, AB Calgary Folk Music Festival
Fri-Aug-2 Happy Valley, OR Pickathon#
Sat-Aug-3 Happy Valley, OR Pickathon#
Sun-Aug-4 Happy Valley, OR Pickathon#
Fri-Aug-9 San Francisco, CA Outside Lands#
Sat-Aug-10 San Francisco, CA Outside Lands#
Sun-Aug-11 San Francisco, CA Outside Lands#
Thu-Sep-05 Raleigh, NC Hopscotch Music Festival#
Fri-Sep-06 Raleigh, NC Hopscotch Music Festival#
Sat-Sep-07 Raleigh, NC Hopscotch Music Festival#
# = Performing on one of these dates (exact dates TBC)
The Fresh & Onlys supporting 5/7-5/12
Angel Olsen supporting 5/16-5/18
Steve Gunn supporting 5/7-5/18
Video credits:
Label: Matador Records
Production Co: Partizan
Dir: HARRYS
Producer: Brendan McHugh
DOP: Evan Prosofsky
1st AC: Jake Magee
2nd AC: Kris Chain-Harris
Steadicam Operator: Jon Beattie
PAs: Jimmy Magliozzi, Nathan Paul & Jackworth Smith
Editor: HARRYS
Video Commissioner: Nils Bernstein
Executive Producer: Jeff Pantaleo
