What once was routine now seems radical: Dinosaur Jr. are releasing a new album next month, and they’re promoting it with a tour of North American music clubs. A year ago this week, the vast majority of live music events were rapidly cancelled as the burgeoning coronavirus pandemic made large gatherings of people unsafe. Some artists such as the 1975 and Thom Yorke have already written off touring for the rest of 2021, but with the COVID-19 vaccine rollout picking up speed in the United States, promoters are busily making plans for later this year. Just this week we saw the lineup for Las Vegas festival Life Is Beautiful in September. Now we learn that Dinosaur will hit the road that same month, and that they’re holding their rock camp even earlier in the summer.

On the heels of their new LP Sweep It Into Space, J Mascis, Lou Barlow, and Murph — who played some socially distanced outdoor shows last year — are heading out on tour just after Labor Day. They’re playing indoor venues across the Midwest and South at first. A second leg in November will mostly cover the East Coast. Early next year they plan to be back in action out West. And before all of that, they’ll convene Camp Fuzz, their “all-inclusive mountain retreat,” in the Catskills in late July. At Camp Fuzz, the band and special guests (no list yet, but past participants have included Kevin Shields, Fred Armisen, and Damian Abraham) will partake in “master classes, Q&A sessions, performances, arts and crafts, and more.” Tickets for Camp Fuzz as well as Dinosaur Jr.’s full tour schedule are available here.

It is fair to be skeptical about whether it will be safe to resume “normal life” by September. Personally, I’m choosing optimism; the science supports it! Given the pandemic circumstances we’ve all become accustomed to, the thought of cramming together indoors to hear some of the loudest possible music is more than a little bit intimidating. But as long as the vaccines proliferate and the cases keep declining, live music’s return this fall feels like an attainable, exciting future — especially when Dinosaur Jr. are the ones taking the stage.

TOUR DATES:
07/27-30 – Big Indian, NY @ Camp Fuzz
09/07 – Montreal, QC @ Corona Theatre
09/09 – Toronto, ON @ Danforth Music Hall
09/10 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Venue TBA
09/11 – Detroit, MI @ Majestic Theatre
09/13 – Madison, WI @ Majestic Theatre
09/14 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
09/16 – St. Louis, MO @ The Pageant
09/20 – Omaha, NE @ The Waiting Room
09/21 – Kansas City, MO @ Truman
09/23 – Austin, TX @ Moody Theater @ ACL Live
09/24 – Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall
09/25 – Dallas, TX @ Canton Hall
09/27 – Birmingham, AL @ Saturn
09/28 – Bloomington, IN @ The Bluebird
09/30 – Columbus, OH @ Athenaeum Theatre
10/01 – Cleveland, OH @ Agora
10/02 – Ithaca, NY @ State Theatre
11/12 – Nashville, TN @ Brooklyn Bowl
11/13 – Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade
11/15 – Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle
11/16 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
11/18 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
11/19 – New Haven, CT @ College Street Music Hall
11/20 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel
11/26 – Northampton, MA @ Academy of Music
11/27 – Boston, MA @ House Of Blues
02/03 – Pioneertown, CA @ Pappy’s and Harriets
02/04 – Las Vegas, NV @ Brooklyn Bowl
02/05 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Depot
02/07 – Spokane, WA @ Knitting Factory Music Hall
02/08 – Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom
02/10 – Seattle, WA @ Showbox at Market
02/11 – Portland, OR @ Venue TBA
02/12 – Portland, OR @ Venue TBA
02/15 – Sacramento, CA @ Ace of Spades
02/16 – San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore
02/17 – San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore
02/19 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Fonda
02/20 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Fonda
02/22 – San Diego, CA @ Observatory North Park
02/23 – Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom
02/25 – Albuquerque, NM @ El Rey Theatre
02/26 – Denver, CO @ Ogden Theatre

Sweep It Into Space is out 4/23 on Jagjaguwar.