have received a concert alert announcing that The Polyphonic Spree are back, playing a show on April 2nd at the El Rey theater in LA. Their You + Me Tour 2012, phase 2 (after the phase 1 covering the South and the East coast), will bring them to Arizona, California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, Utah and Colorado.
I hadn’t heard about them for quite a while, I think since 2007! How can a successful band disappear like this? I saw them at the El Rey precisely, and the audience’s reaction was not the sign of a band in decline! I also saw them opening for Brian Wilson at the prestigious Hollywood Bowl, a real accomplishment for a young band.
So the symphonic pop group from Dallas is back, and frontman Tim DeLaughter wants to convince you you should come to his show. Read this email from Tim, it is cute:
WHY YOU SHOULD COME SEE THE POLYPHONIC SPREE ON THE YOU+ME TOUR?
‘My first ever show was Willie Nelson with Jerry Jeff Walker, In Dallas at the Sportatorium. I found $5.00 at the snack bar on the floor… I was 8 yrs old. That was a lot of money back then. I'm a HUGE Willie fan to this day…the money had nothing to do with it.
Please come to our show and I'll throw $20.00 on the floor in front of the bar for some lucky kid to find. Then, you'll have a story to tell like me…38yrs later.
The "best gig ever played" is way too broad of question for someone who's been playing shows since 1989. My god, I've played all over the world, with some of the greatest artists ever. From David Bowie to Def Leppard…. We performed Sgt Peppers for the induction of the Beatles in the UK Hall of Fame in London. I wore Paul McCartney's satin blue suit, the one in the gatefold of said album. We played the Nobel Peace Prize Award show in Norway. After we played our song, we came back out for the finale, where we sang "Imagine" by John Lennon. We held hands while we did this, I had Tom Cruise holding my right hand and Oprah Winfrey holding my left. We've played Glastonbury, in front of 80,000 people as well as every other huge festival in the UK and Europe. Along with Coachella & Bonnaroo in the states and any other big festival you can think of here in America. We also made it 30+ strong at times to faraway places like Japan & Australia. We've played on TV shows like Scrubs and Las Vegas, I even had a speaking role that was written in the show, just because we were there. I told James Caan (Las Vegas) "Freebie and the Bean" was the first shoot'em up movie I ever saw at the theater. He said "really"?! Then walked away….
I have been on 9 major labels and dropped by everyone of them. I've been nominated for an Emmy, for the theme song I wrote for "The United States of Tara", I lost to John Williams. I've scored 3 films and have had my songs used in countless films and commercials. One of my songs was used in a TV campaign in the UK. The song went on to win an award for the longest running campaign in UK Television history, beating "I'd like to teach the world to sing". The first time you ever saw a bands name on an iPod, during the commercial while the song was playing was us.. I could go on and on, but I won't …
I think I've answered in a round about way your questions and then some.. Please don't take my life's words as gloating, I just felt like sharing some insight to who your asking these questions to.
I will tell you this… The Polyphonic Spree is definitely one of the best live experiences I have ever had… And, I'm at my best when I'm performing with them, for whatever that's worth. Let's hope it's worth the ticket price…Don't take my word for it, come see for yourself.. My money's on the Spree!! Thanks,
Tim DeLaughter (de-‐lotter)
What a resume! A little desperate and overwhelming may be? That’s typical of the Polyphonic Spree, an over the top multi-instrumental chorus dressed up in robes, a gospel choir re-imagined for the hippie generation, a larger-than-life music for people who wants to get lost in their gentle and loving revolution. Go see them, they are one of these bands you better experience live than on a iPod.
Here are the dates of Phase 2 of their tour:
3/29/12 The Crescent Ballroom Phoenix, AZ Coming Soon!
3/30/12 Rialto Theatre Tucson, AZ Coming Soon!
4/01/12 House of Blues San Diego, CA Coming Soon!
4/02/12 El Rey Theatre Los Angeles, CA Coming Soon!
4/03/12 Great American Music Hall San Francisco, CA Coming Soon!
4/05/12 Wonder Ballroom Portland, OR Coming Soon!
4/06/12 Neumos Seattle, WA Coming Soon!
4/07/12 Venue Vancouver, BC Coming Soon!
4/09/12 Club Sound Salt Lake City, UT Coming Soon!
4/10/12 Bluebird Theater Denver, CO Coming Soon!