Recently called "Ireland's best-kept secret" by the Irish Examiner newspaper, The Coronas are set to return to North America for their biggest series of shows yet. Having completed two tours within the last year that included a dozen sold out shows in support of their latest album, TRUST THE WIRE, their newest series of concerts will kick off this Sunday, August 5 at Chicago's Grant Park when they make their debut appearance at the eclectic Lollapalooza Festival. On the heels of Lollapalooza will be three performances at the annual Irish Fest, August 17, 18 and 19 in Milwaukee's Henry W. Maier Festival Park.
The bulk of the tour begins in Calgary, Alberta on September 25 and continues for more than a month of shows in cities all over the United States and Canada. "We've had a great year touring North America," explains Coronas frontman Danny O'Reilly, "and we can see the work paying off and the crowds increasing. We plan to keep coming back and building it like we did at home. We were never an overnight success in Ireland, so we're excited to emulate that process overseas."
To coincide with the tour, The Coronas have rolled out new music in the form of a five-song EP called REPRISE, available now on Spotify, iTunes, Apple Music and other digital outlets. The EP was largely recorded at the beginning of this year.
The songs that comprise REPRISE touch on a recurring theme often found in Coronas' material-navigating relationships-as evidenced by introspective titles such as "Is There Still Time?" and "Not Sure How to Lie" and made effectively heart-rending by lead singer Danny O'Reilly's plaintive vocals. The Irish Independent newspaper has described the collection as being in "the key of indie alienation, disquiet, melancholy, mortality, regret, guilt, with glimpses of joy and happiness. All wrapped up in piano-and-guitar melodies that owe more to the Edge or Radiohead than they do to Coldplay, or indeed David Bowie."
The band have already started writing for their next album, to be recorded sometime early in the new year. REPRISE follows TRUST THE WIRE, which debuted at #1 on the Irish music chart in its first week of release in the summer of 2017, becoming the band's first album to reach that coveted top spot. TRUST THE WIRE was also The Coronas' first release on their own label imprint-So Far So Good Records, distributed in the U.S. and Canada through ADA Distribution.
The US/Canada tour follows recent high profile shows in England and at home in Ireland. Describing the band's packed to the rafters show at Dublin's 3Arena on
July 21, the Independent reported: "It's clear throughout the gig that the band's mission is to make us lose our inhibitions, as well as play their finest, most instantly relatable tracks." Then adding: "The crowd, for their part, sing along as though they'd written the words themselves."
The Coronas' Danny O'Reilly (vocals, guitar), Graham Knox (bass), Conor Egan (drums) and Dave McPhillips (guitar) have five critically-acclaimed albums to their credit--four of them double platinum in Ireland and one on its way there-and have spent a decade touring all over the world. The Coronas will follow their tour of North America with three shows in Australia in November.
Says O'Reilly: "We're passionate, we love what we do, we try to get the crowd to sing along and join the show. Above all, we appreciate what we do every night, and never take it for granted and that attitude seems to help get the crowd enjoying themselves too. It's the best job in the world."
North American Tour Dates
Sunday, August 5--Lollapalooza Festival, Chicago, IL
August 17, 18 & 19--Milwaukee Irish Fest, Milwaukee, WI
Tuesday, Sept. 25--The Gateway, Calgary, AB, Canada
Wednesday, Sept. 26--Starlite Room, Edmonton, AB, Canada
Friday, Sept. 28--Vogue, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Saturday, Sept. 29--The Crocodile, Seattle, WA
Sunday, Sept. 30--Doug Fir Lounge, Portland, OR
Tuesday, October 2--August Hall, San Francisco, CA
Wednesday, October 3--Casbah, San Diego, CA
October 5 and 12--Austin City Limits Festival, Austin, TX
Sunday, October 14--Blueberry Hill, St. Louis, MO
Tuesday, October 16--Club Cafe, Pittsburgh, PA
Thursday, October 18--Phoenix Theatre, Toronto, ON, Canada
Friday, October 19--Irving Plaza, New York, NY
Saturday, October 20--The Sinclair, Boston, MA
Sunday, October 21--Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA
Wednesday, October 24--Exit/In, Nashville, TN
Thursday, October 25--Purgatory, Atlanta, GA
October 26-28-Voodoo Festival, New Orleans, LA
