Okkervil River – ‘The Silver Gymnasium’ (new album / stream) + Tour Dates

The video was filmed in the Town Hall of Plainfield, NH, near where frontman Will Sheff grew up. Sheff reminisces on the old building, “I remember nights as a kid where we’d go to the Town Hall and watch guys from the town get up and play little rock and roll sets in front of this beautiful three-dimensional Maxfield Parrish backdrop while ladies would sell cans of Coke and 7-Up through the concession window. As time passed in my life, the backdrop seemed less real to me and I wanted to go back to film it to see if it was really there and was as cool as I remember it. It’s even cooler now thanks to the great work of Nancy Norwalk and a group of Plainfield preservationists who cleaned and restored it a decade or so ago – the backdrop is still lit by a custom lighting rig special-ordered from New York City in 1916, though the Town Hall itself is over a hundred years older than that. For the first song from the record I wanted Nancy to give everybody out there in internetland a chance to see her run the beautiful times-of-day lightshow by hand to the accompaniment of the music.”

TOUR DATES

August

24-25 – Monterey, Calif. @ First City Festival

September

7 – Boston, Mass. @ Boston Calling

19 – Mobile, Ala. @ Alabama Music Box

20 – Tallahassee, Fla. @ Club Downunder

21 – Atlanta, Ga. @ Variety Playhouse

23-24 – Washington, D.C. @ 9:30 Club

26 – New York, N.Y. @ Terminal 5 (w/ Pickwick and Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears)

27 – Ithaca, N.Y. @ The Haunt

28 – Toronto, Ontario @ Phoenix Concert Theatre

29 – Cleveland, Ohio @ Beachland Ballroom

October

1 – Nashville, Tenn. @ Mercy Lounge

2 – Little Rock, Ark. @ Revolution

4-13 – Austin, Texas @ Austin City Limits Festival

18 – El Paso, Texas @ Tricky Falls

19 – Phoenix, Ariz. @ The Crescent Ballroom

20 – Los Angeles, Calif. @ The Wiltern

24 – Portland, Ore. @ Wonder Ballroom

25 – Seattle, Wash. @ The Showbox

26 – Vancouver, B.C. @ Rickshaw Theatre

November

1 – Minneapolis, Minn. @ First Avenue

2 – Chicago, Ill. @ Metro