BRAIDS started out as a Canadian experiment—which sounds sinister but has yielded some glorious, cascading experimental pop music. Since their debut LP, Native Speaker, in January, they've been wowing North America and Europe with their live show, and they've just now released a video for “Plath Heart.” Not understanding French or understanding what “Rock Ton Paintball” means in any language, I expected to see zany footage of the quartet shooting paintballs at each other. The actual video is much more understated than that (it's just the band playing in a room speckled with paint; guess that's where the paintball moniker comes in?), but it's definitely worth checking out.
BRAIDS have also announced tour dates, starting in Canada, then making their way to Europe and finally America (with lots of stops in Canada).
BRAIDS Tour Dates
June
17 Toronto, ON The Garrison for NXNE
18 Toronto, ON Great Hall for NXNE
22 Calgary, AB Marquee Room for Sled Island
25 Saskatoon, SK Amigo's for Saskatoon Jazz
July
16 Ottawa, ON Ottawa Blues Festival
22 Calgary, AB Calgary Folk Festival
23 Calgary, AB Calgary Folk Festival
24 Guelph, ON Hillside Festival
30 Montreal, QC Osheaga
August
05 Regina, SK Regina Folk Festival
07 Liege, Belgium Les Ardentes Festival
08 Trenton, Slovakia Pohoda Festival
09 Dublin, Ireland Oxegen Festival
10 Canterbury, UK Lounge on Farm Festival
11 Brighton, UK TBD
12 Cardiff, UK TBD
14 Hultsfred, Sweden Hultsfred Festival
15 Suffolk, UK Latitude Festival
September
06 New York, NY Mercury Lounge
07 Philadelphia, PA First Unitarian Church ^
08 Washington DC DC9 ^
09 Raleigh NC Hopscotch Festival
10 Atlanta GA Drunken Unicorn ^
11 Birmingham AL Bottletree ^
13 Chicago IL Empty Bottle ^
15 Minneapolis MN 7th Street Entry ^
16 Winnipeg MB The Royal Albert Arms Hotel ^
18 Saskatoon, SK Jale
19 Edmonton, AB Pawn Shop ^
20 Calgary, AB The Republik
22 Victoria, BC Rifflandia ^
23 Vancouver, BC Electric Owl – Olio Festival
24 Seattle, WA Sunset Tavern ^
27 San Francisco, CA Bottom of the Hill ^
28 Costa Mesa, CA Detroit Bar ^
29 Los Angeles, CA Echo ^
30 Tempe, AZ Sail Inn ^
October
01 Santa Fe, NM Corazon ^
02 El Paso, TX Lowbrow Palace ^
04 Austin, TX The Mohawk ^
05 Dallas, TX Club Dada ^
06 St Louis, MO Firebird ^
07 Bloomington, IN The Bishop ^
08 Cleveland, OH Beachland Tavern ^
09 Detroit, MI Magic Stick Lounge ^
10 London, ON Call the Office ^
14 Toronto, ON Legendary Horseshoe Tavern
15 Ottawa, ON Babylon
16 Quebec, QC Le Cercle ^
17 Fredericton, NB The Capital Complex
19 Portland, ME SPACE ^
20 Boston, MA Great Scott ^
^ w/ Pepper Rabbit
