The Polyphonic Spree announces summer tour, coming to Carrboro

Massive symphonic rockers The Polyphonic Spree released their fourth studio album last year titled Yes, It's True and they are hitting the road this summer on a U.S. tour in support.

The band will return to Carrboro, but this time they'll play the much more intimate ArtsCenter on Friday, August 29. Tickets are on sale now via Ticketfly for $22.

Check out The Polyphonic Spree's animated music video for "Popular By Design" from Yes, It's True below.

The Polyphonic Spree announces 2012 tour, coming to Carrboro

The psychedelic orchestral pop sounds of The Polyphonic Spree will be heard throughout venues across the North America again this spring as the band embark on their first proper tour in about four years.

The band will return to the Cat's Cradle in Carrboro on Saturday, May 26. Sweet Lee Morrow will open. Ticket info is not available yet, but we'll keep you posted. Tickets are $17 in advance and are on sale now via Etix.

The band's latest album is 2007's The Fragile Army, though a new album is expected sometime soon. They just release a new single in February titled "What Would You Do?" Watch the music video for the song below.

The Polyphonic Spree liven up Cat's Cradle

You can't say The Polyphonic Spree don't know how to open a show.

The 22-person group opened their show at Cat's Cradle Tuesday night in a particularly grand fashion. After raising a makeshift red curtain to block view of the stage during setup, frontman Tim DeLaughter made his first appearance to the audience by cutting a heart-shaped hole in the center of the "curtain"

The show was truly great from start to finish, though I’ll admit I didn’t enjoy it as much as my last Spree show, which I enjoyed from right near the stage. This time I avoided the crush and stood by the sound board and I must admit there’s something to be said for standing in the middle of a crowd as they go absolutely crazy, singing, dancing and flailing around.

A Polyphonic Spree show definitely qualifies not as a show but as a “concert experience,” with confetti cannons being shot off at random and a literal army of people on stage.

Songs like “Hanging Around the Day” and “Soldier Girl” truly came alive on stage, though I think the highlight of the evening (for me at least) was the band’s cover of Paul McCartney and Wings’ “Live and Let Die.”

“We all reminisce,” DeLaughter said following the song. “Sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s bad and sometimes it’s downright scary.”

I’m guessing that when the Spree reminisce, it’s almost always good.

But The Polyphonic Spree wasn’t the only great band that evening. In a rare moment of concert greatness, I was actually looking forward to all three bands on the bill that night, and they didn’t disappoint.

The Redwalls opened the show with a bang with their late-60s inspired rock and roll. The group played a short set mainly containing material from their new album that seemed to make a fan of everyone in the room.

Fronted by brothers Logan and Justin Baren, The Redwalls combine the best of Brit pop and good old fashioned rock ‘n roll grit. It’s no wonder Liam Gallagher once said they’re the only new band he likes.

Rooney, in their second Cat's Cradle appearance since July, made all the girls scream with their poppy love songs and California hipster vibe.

Frontman Robert Schwartzman (full name Robert Coppola Schwartzman, and yes he’s related to all the people you think he is) definitely knows how to play to the group’s fan base, asking the crowd “How many of you are in school?” (about half the audience raised their hands) getting the audience to clap and sing along and making sure to tell them the names of all their songs.

Rooney seemed to have developed a, uh, playful relationship with the band and crew for Polyphonic Spree. About two-thirds through Rooney’s set, a crew member for the Spree approached the sound board and asked the engineer “So should I cook his ass with the spotlight for a while?” Schwartzman may have squinted a bit for the following three songs, but at least we could see him a little better!

Set Lists

The Polyphonic Spree

Section 22: Running Away
Hanging Around the Day
Section 23: Get Up and Go
It's the Sun
Section 12: Hold Me Now
Section 30: Watch Us Explode (Justify)
Live and Let Die
Section 29: Light to Follow
Section 24: The Fragile Army
Section 26: We Crawl
Section 32: The Championship
Encore:
Lithium
When the Fool Becomes a King
Soldier Girl

The Redwalls

Hangman
Love Her
Put Us Down
Game of Love
They are Among Us
Falling
Build a Bridge
Been Done Before

Rooney
Blueside
Don't Come Around Again
Calling The World
Daisy Duke
Believe In Me
Tell me Soon
I'm a Terrible Person
Runaway (Del Shannon cover)
Are You Afraid of Me
I Should've Been After You
Our Love
All In Your Head
Shakin'
When Did Your Heart Go Missing

[all photos by Kevin Norris]

Symphonic pop, California rock and Chicago swagger coming to the Cradle

One of the best tours of the fall just added a stop at the Cat's Cradle. The Polyphonic Spree, Rooney and The Redwalls will play the Cradle on November 13.

The Polyphonic Spree are touring in support of their third album, The Fragile Army, released in June. The Spree played the Cat's Cradle in May, just before the release of the album to preview new songs and play old favorites. Check out the review here.

Rooney is also touring in support of a new album. Their second full-length, Calling the World, was released in July. Just like The Polyphonic Spree, Rooney stopped by the Cat's Cradle in June, just prior to the release of their new record, to play a headline show in the midst of a tour with Fergie. Check out the review here.

Last but certainly not least, Chicago's The Redwalls will start the show. The Redwalls will release their third album, a self-titled record, October 23 via their new label Mad Dragon. The band's last record, De Nova, was released via Captiol Records, but like most good bands, they have moved to an indie to kick-start their career.

Both The Polyphonic Spree and Rooney pulled sizable yet very different crowds earlier this year while all the local colleges were out for the summer. It's safe to say that this show will most likely sell out, so get your tickets early.

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The Polyphonic Spree, Rooney and The Redwalls will play the Cat's Cradle in Carrboro on Tuesday, November 13. Doors will open at 8 p.m. and the show will start at 8:45 p.m. Tickets will $15 in advance and $18 the day of the show (if there are any left). Tickets will be on sale via etix.com. There's no on-sale date yet.

Review: Polyphonic Spree at Cat's Cradle

Polyphonic Spree are a lot like other alt rock bands. There's a drummer, a lead singer, two guitar players and a bassist. There's also a harpist, flautist, two keyboard players, another percussionist, a three person horn section and six backup singers dubbed the Polyphonettes.

OK, so maybe the Polyphonic Spree are a little different.

The group brought its 32 person entourage (band + crew) to Cat's Cradle last weekend for a one of a kind show.

Dressed not in their characteristic robes but instead in black military uniforms with hearts, red crosses and an arm patch, the Spree took the stage and launched into material covering all three of their albums, including the upcoming The Fragile Army, to be released June 19.

Lead singer Tim DeLaughter asked the crowd nicely to buy their new album so the group doesn't get dropped from another record label.

But if anyone in the group was feeling down, you sure couldn't tell. For the entire two hours they were on stage, every member of the group (21 at our best count) was spilling over with enthusiasm. The only unfortunate part is it wasn't as infectious as you might think.

From my spot about four people back, I was amid a sea of arm-crossed zombies. It was only toward the end of the show when DeLaughter essentially demanded that the crowd give back some of the energy they were sending out that people really started to bounce and sing to the music.

There was one moment, though, that absolutely stood out from all the rest. During the last song of the main set, "The Championship," a track on the new album, the band exited the stage one by one as the remaining band members and crowd sang in unison, "All in good time, raise our voices." While it may sound cheesy, the sheer power of that moment, of everybody coming together as one, was incredibly. Check out this video on YouTube (of the band at Hammerstein Ballroom in New York two days before the Cat's Cradle show) to see what I mean.

When the Polyphonic Spree first gained popularity in 2003 a lot of people said, jokingly or not, that the band seemed to be part of some cult. They wore robes, were always happy and seriously, there are 24 of them. But if it takes dealing with such accusations to get such innovative, awe-inspiring and downright fantastic music, I'd say that's a pretty good deal.


[all photos by Kevin Norris]