Magnetic Fields’ Stephin Merritt Sets Unusual Solo Tour

Magnetic Fields mastermind Stephin Merritt has scheduled a rare 14-date solo U.S. tour with plans to perform a 26-song, alphabetized set each night.

Accompanied by longtime bandmate Sam Davol on cello, Merritt will perform acoustic renditions of songs from throughout his career, ordering them alphabetically by song title. As such, these shows should be of particular interest to fans of such Magnetic Fields deep cuts like Distortion‘s “Xavier Says” or 69 Love Songs‘ “Xylophone Track,” though a crapshoot for lovers of the band’s 2004 effort, i. 

The trek begins May 2nd at Union Transfer in Philadelphia and ends July 24th at The Spiegeltent at Bard College in Annandale on Hudson, New York (Merritt will take some time off between a May 16th show in Columbus, Ohio and June 9th show in Cambridge, Massachusetts). A full tour itinerary is below.

While the Magnetic Fields have been silent since 2012’s Love at the Bottom of the Sea, the prolific singer-songwriter has remained busy. In 2013, his side project Future Bible Heroes released their LP Partygoing, while the singer contributed original music to two episodes of the hit radio show This American Life last year. Merritt hasn’t released a solo effort under his own name since the 2011 rarities compilation, Obscurities.

Stephin Merritt solo tour dates
May 2 — Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
May 3 — Washington D.C. @ Sixth & I Synagogue
May 4 — Atlanta, GA @ Buckhead Theatre
May 6 — Austin, TX @ Central Presbyterian Church
May 8 — Los Angeles, CA @ Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever Cemetery
May 9 — Los Angeles, CA @ Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever Cemetery
May 10 San Francisco, CA @ The Independent
May 12 Portland, OR @ Aladdin Theatre
May 13 Seattle, WA @ Nordstrom Recital Hall at Benaroya
May 15 Minneapolis, MN @ Cedar Cultural Center
May 16 Columbus, OH @ Wexner Center for the Arts
June 9 Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair
July 24 Annandale on Hudson, NY @ The Spiegeltent