Niki & The Dove leads a whole whack of concert announcements

Eliot HazelDays like yesterday are kind of my favourite. Those are the days where the inbox/RSS/Twitter feed is like a non-stop barrage of concert announcements and they’re great because not only do they put interesting things on my calendar to look forward to, but they also make the next day’s blog post an easy one.

Of all the announcements to come down the pipe, the one that I’m most pleased about is that Swedish electro duo Niki & The Dove will be at The Drake Underground on October 2, tickets $15 in advance. I had originally been disappointed that their first proper North American tour supporting Twin Shadow didn’t include his two nights at Lee’s Palace at the end of July, but they tacked on a handful of headlining dates after that tour wrapped including Toronto. I’m a bit surprised about the size of the venue – having seen them at both Iceland Airwaves last Fall and at SXSW this Spring, their stardom seemed assured and considering those dates were coming a good while after the August 7 release of their debut Instinct, I would think that the buzz would demand a decidedly larger room.

All of which is to say that when tickets go on sale this Friday, if you’re at all interested in seeing this band – which you should be – you should get on tickets quick.

MP3: Niki & The Dove – “Tomorrow”
MP3: Niki & The Dove – “Mother Protect”
MP3: Niki & The Dove – “The Drummer”

Also confirmed rolling through the 416 in the last few days, in chronological order:

Peppy Louisiana five-piece Givers, who had one of the songs of the Summer last year with “Up Up Up” hope that their debut In Light has the legs to keep toes tapping through another Summer tour. They’re at The Drake on July 31, tickets $10.50 in advance.

MP3: Givers – “Up Up Up”

Echo Beach is a far, far cry from the intimate environs of The Drake Underground where Perfume Genius played in April, but the sum beauty that the pairing of him and Sigur Rós could bring to the waterfront gives me goosebumps just thinking about it. They open for the Icelanders there on August 1, one of four dates they’re doing with them.

MP3: Perfume Genius – “Hood”
MP3: Perfume Genius – “Dark Parts”

I had thought that Franco-Finnish duo The Dø might be giving us a pass in support of their latest album Both Ways Open Jaws – it came out in November and they hadn’t been through since September 2010, but they’ve just taken their time getting around to it. They’ll be at Lee’s Palace on August 3, tickets $15 in advance.

MP3: The Dø – “Slippery Slope”

With their new, self-titled album out today, Australia’s Temper Trap have made a date at The Phoenix for August 7 since they’ll be over this way for Lollapalooza anyways. Tickets for that are $26.50 in advance. There’s interviews with the band at MySpace and FasterLouder.

Video: The Temper Trap – “Trembling Hands”

San Franciscan country/garage-pop – maybe barn-pop? – outfit Sonny & The Sunsets have put together a Summer tour in support of their new record Longtime Companion, out June 26. They’re at The Silver Dollar on August 11, tickets $11.50.

MP3: Sonny & The Sunsets – “Pretend You Love Me”
MP3: Sonny & The Sunsets – “I See The Void”

Having made his name with The Frames and The Swell Season (and The Commitments, but we don’t talk about that), Glen Hansard is looking to do the same for Glen Hansard. His solo debut Rhythm & Repose is out June 16 and he’s put together a North American tour that brings him to The Music Hall on September 16; tickets range from $25.50 to $35 in advance. There’s chats with Hansard at Spinner and Exclaim.

Video: Glen Hansard – “Philander”
Video: Glen Hansard – “Love Don’t Leave Me Waiting”

Los Angeles art-rock weirdos Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti have yet to formally announce their follow up to 2010’s Before Today, but that they’ve announced a Fall tour that includes a September 19 date at Lee’s Palace – tickets $20 – implies that it’s not far off.

MP3: Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti – “Round And Round”

Chairlift are coming back to town for Something and they’ve graduated from The Horseshoe to The Molson Amphitheatre! Of course, it’s in support of Gotye, whom you may know from that one song and whom you won’t remember in a year, but still. That’s September 20, and I suspect if you sit tight there’ll be a lot of tickets made available super-cheap in the days leading up to the show. PopMatters has a feature on the Brooklyn band.

MP3: Chairlift – “I Belong In Your Arms”
MP3: Chairlift – “Cool As A Fire”

Though they released the Into The Night EP this Spring as a stopgap, The Raveonettes also have a new album in the works and some Fall tour dates to go with it. They’ll be at The Phoenix on October 2, tickets $18.50.

MP3: The Raveonettes – “Into The Night”

Punk rock veterans Social Distortion have announced a Fall tour that brings them to the Sound Academy on October 20.

Video: Social Distortion – “Machine Gun Blues”

With their Americana album of traditional folk songs grunged the hell up out today, Neil Young & Crazy Horse decided it’s as good a time as any to announce their Fall tour in support of it. They’ll be at The Air Canada Centre on November 19 with Los Lobos as support, tickets on sale June 15. Pricing still not announced but odds are it won’t be cheap; it never is and yet it’s always worth it. Rolling Stone talks to Neil to find out why it’s Crazy Horse and not Buffalo Springfield.

Video: Neil Young & Crazy Horse – “God Save The Queen”