What better way to combat the recent leak of your new album, then by leaking the tour dates that will be supporting said, right? At least, that what Grizzly Bear appear to be thinking. Fresh off the illegal leak and ahead of the legal release of their new studio album, Veckatimest (May 26th via Warp Records), the New York outfit has announced plans for a month-long North American tour. Like most recently announced treks, the fun starts off on the west coast in accordance to the band’s upcoming appearance at Sasquatch!. From there, Grizzly Bear basically backs a giant loop around the country, stopping by New York, Boston, Bonnaroo, and pretty much everywhere else before capping things off in San Francisco, California. Well, nearly everywhere? Looks like the Lolllapalooza clause is at it again…

Getting back to the aforementioned leak, the New Yorkers are a bit upset over it, as evident by their recent blog posting…

So yeah, we are kind of bummed this leaked so early. We know it’s not the 90’s anymore and times have changed, and we’re super grateful for all the support people have shown us on the blogs and internet, but we were kind of hoping it wouldn’t happen this soon.

Ultimately we feel like we put out a great album and hope people enjoy it, and we really hope people take the time to pre-order and support the good one-and-a-half years it took to write and record it.

I promise you the album art for both CD and vinyl is going to be gorgeous. And a bonus: all vinyl people will get a high quality download coupon with their purchase.

Leaking is a tricky subject; as we all know, I’ve had my run ins with the law O__o (Hi, Mr. Sheriff!) I have conflicting opinions about it, as it’s really complicated, but ultimately it saddens me that a bummer-quality version of Veckatimest is going around. Please consider putting your energies into a pre-order or into waiting till May 26 for the album the way we intend it to be presented.

Not to get all mushy, but we definitely put a lot of love and work into this one and are just excited to hit the road and tour it again.

In other words, go pre-order Veckatimest, and buy your concert tickets when they go on sale Friday, March 6th.

Grizzly Bear 2009 Tour Dates:
5/24 – Portland, OR @ Aladdin Theatre
5/25 – George, WA @ Sasquatch! Music Festival
5/26 – Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom
5/28 – New York, NY @ Town Hall
5/29 – New York, NY @ Town Hall
6/01 – Washington, DC @ 930 Club
6/02 – Philadelphia, PA @ Trocadero
6/03 – Boston, MA @ Berkley Performance Center
6/04 – Montreal, QC @ Le National
6/05 – Toronto ON @ Phoenix
6/07 – Minneapolis, MN @ Cedar Cultural Center
6/08 – Milwaukee, WI @ Pabst Theatre
6/09 – Bloomington, IN @ Buskirk-Chumley
6/11 – Carrboro, NC @ Cats Cradle
6/12 – Manchester, TN @ Bonnaroo Music Festival
6/13 – Atlanta, GA @ Tabernacle *
6/15 – Dallas, TX @ Grenada Theater
6/16 – Austin, TX @ The Parish
6/19 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern
6/21 – San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore

* = w/ TV on the Radio