Cleveland-based youth-culture magazine Alternative Press will kick off its 25th anniversary in style with The 2010 AP Tour. The tour, featuring a lineup handpicked by AP staff, will kick off March 19 at the House Of Blues in Dallas, Texas.Since 2007, AP has been determined to bring the best new bands at an affordable ticket price to venues across North America, and the past three years' tours (including the Fall Ball, which wrapped this past November) have featured such hot, up-and-coming acts as 3OH!3, All Time Low, Mayday Parade, Forever The Sickest Kids and more. What started off as a 28-date tour four years ago has quickly grown far beyond anyone's expectations, with 2009's sold-out AP Tour reaching more than 55,000 attendees in over 40 cities.
This spring's AP Tour bill will feature all three of AP's 100 Bands You Need To Know In 2010 cover stars: Joplin, Missouri's rising star Never Shout Never will headline the tour, with main support from Las Vegas-based piano-pop band The Cab and Floridan female-fronted pop-rockers Hey Monday, who will share the spotlight, rotating positions each night. Michigan rockers Every Avenue and Arizona electro-pop quintet The Summer Set will round out the lineup.
"The coolest part has been to see our annual 100 Bands You Need To Know special transform into a live production," says publisher Norman Wonderly. "It's exciting to watch the careers of the past alumni evolve and know you were with them in the beginning!"
THE 2009 AP TOUR routing:
3-19 Dallas, TX (House Of Blues)
3-20 Austin, TX (Emo'sFREE SXSW Show)*
3-21 Houston, TX (Warehouse Live)
3-23 Tucson, AZ (Rialto Theatre)
3-24 Phoenix, AZ (Marquee Theatre)
3-25 Bakersfield, CA (The Dome)
3-26 San Diego, CA (House Of Blues)
3-27 Las Vegas, NV (Extreme Thing)
3-30 Los Angeles, CA (House Of Blues)
3-31 San Francisco, CA (The Grand Ballroom at The Regency)
4-01 Chico, CA (Senator Theatre)
4-02 Portland, OR (Hawthorne Theatre)
4-03 Seattle, WA (El Corazon)
4-05 Salt Lake City, UT (In The Venue)
4-06 Denver, CO (Gothic Theatre)
4-08 Des Moines, IA (People's Court)
4-09 St. Paul, MN (Station 4)
4-10 Chicago, IL (House Of Blues)
4-11 Milwaukee, WI (The Rave)
4-13 Kansas City, KS (The Beaumont Club)
4-14 Sauget, IL (Pop's)
4-15 Nashville, TN (Rocketown)
4-16 Atlanta, GA (The Masquerade)
4-17 Jacksonville, FL (Freebird Live)
4-18 Orlando, FL (House Of Blues)
4-21 Charlotte, NC (Amos' Southend)
4-22 Norfolk, VA (The NorVa)
4-23 Philadelphia, PA (Theatre Of The Living Arts)
4-24 Allentown, PA (Crocodile Rock)
4-25 Washington, DC (9:30 Club)
4-27 New York, NY (The Fillmore At Irving Plaza)
4-28 Buffalo, NY (Club Infinity)
4-29 Boston, MA (House Of Blues)
4-30 New Haven, CT (Toad's Place)
5-01 Albany, NY (Northern Lights)
5-04 Pittsburgh, PA (Altar Bar)
5-05 Toronto, ON (Phoenix Theatre)
5-06 Detroit, MI (Crofoot Ballroom)
5-07 Columbus, OH (Newport Music Hall)
5-08 Cleveland, OH (House Of Blues)
*The tour will stop at the world-renowned venue Emo's during the South By Southwest Music Conference in Austin, Texas. This FREE show will feature the tour lineup, as well as more than a dozen bands from our 100 Bands You Need To Know In 2010 issue as well as special guests.