Cobra Starship "Just Want Kids to Dance" On First-Ever Headlining Tour

After spending the last two years touring supporting bands like labelmates Fall Out Boy and the Academy Is..., Cobra Starship are hitting the road tomorrow for their first-ever headlining tour. The band — which originated as the side project of Midtown frontman Gabe Saporta and became famous for performing the theme song to Snakes on a Plane — has already sold out more than half of the forty-nine small club dates, and Saporta says anyone coming to a show can expect a party.

"We're bringing strobe lights, like what the Faint used to do back in the day before they had lasers," Saporta says. "And we're bringing glow sticks to pass out. I just want kids to dance." When it comes to the set list, fans can expect a mix of tracks from Cobra's two albums, plus a section of the show where guitarist Ryland Blackinton and bassist Alex Suarez ditch their instruments for keyboards. "The electronic thing has definitely always been an influence," says Saporta, who cites underground dance act Ratatat as his favorite band. "We always want to do more than we do, so we're going to step it up on that level."

The band may use some of their time on the bus to start working on their third album, but Saporta says not to expect another release soon. He adds that the band has plans to continue to promote their current record and continue touring throughout '08. "I just want to make fun music and have a good time," Saporta says.

Cobra still plan on staying accessible, even if it doesn't mean playing against fans in "Mario Kart" tournaments like on a tour last year. "The thing kids had to do to play us was not to be the best, it was just to be funny, so we had one girl who wrote 'You should play me because I don't have any STD's,' Saporta says, laughing. "But for this tour I think we're just going to hang out."

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Song Stories

“Time to Pretend”

MGMT | 2008

Listening to MGMT’s breakthrough song, one might interpret it as being about the excesses of rock stardom, but it’s actually about the duo’s pet praying mantis. Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden told Rolling Stone they got the idea from the insect's jerky movements. The mantis died, but the two bandmates kept the egg sack and allowed the hundreds of eggs to hatch. “We tried to name them all, but they died after a day,” said Goldwasser, with VanWyngarden chiming in, “But the praying mantis dance inspired us.”

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