You might remember the guitar-shredding challenge the band issued Stephen Colbert in late 2006 after the show host accused the band of ripping off his “green screen challenge” where viewers create videos based on Colbert’s antics in front of a green screen. Always up for anything that might increase laughs (and ratings), Colbert accepted the band’s shredding challenge, only to feign a hand injury during the competition.
That’s when Peter Frampton appeared in Colbert’s place and suspiciously defeated Decemberists guitarist Chris Funk. That is, after “ShredDown” judge Eliot Spitzer recused himself from the voting after Colbert attempted to bribe him.
Now the band is headed back to “The Colbert Report” on April 27. No word yet as to whether Funk and Colbert will try to out-shred each other.
The band also announced phase two of its “A Short Faxed Hovel” tour supporting its latest album, The Hazards of Love.
The new leg starts July 17 outside Seattle at Redmond’s Marymoor Park. Other dates include July 18 and 19 in Troutdale, OR(near Portland), at Edgefield Winery; July 21 and 22 in Vancouver, British Columbia, at Vogue Theatre; August 3 in Toronto at Kool Haus; August 5 in Madison, Wis., at Orpheum Theatre; August 7 in Indianapolis at Murat Egyptian Room; August 10 in Louisville at W.L. Lyons Brown Theatre and August 11 in Royal Oak, Mich. (outside Detroit), at the aptly named Royal Oak Theatre.
Andrew Bird supports July 17 – 19, Blind Pilot supports July 17 – 22 and August 10, and Heartless Bastards support August 3 – 8 and August 11.
Through the entire tour, which starts May 19 in Los Angeles at the Palladium, The Decemberists will play two sets, with the first featuring a complete performance of the band’s new album, The Hazards Of Love, while the second focuses on older material. Lavender Diamond’s Becky Stark and My Brightest Diamond’s Shara Worden will join the band onstage.
A limited number of pre-sale tickets are already on sale today at Decemberists.tickets.musictoday.com. Tickets for the newly announced headliner dates go on sale to general public this Friday at 10 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time. For more information, please click here for The Decemberists Web site.