Singer-songwriters Conor Oberst and Phoebe Bridgers announced an extensive spring tour in support of their debut self-titled album as Better Oblivion Community Center (BOCC). The tour includes a six-week U.S. leg, beginning in March, before they head to Europe in May. Coinciding with the announcement, BOCC released a music video for its lead single, “Dylan Thomas.”
Oberst and Bridgers sing in unison about the disenchanting spectacle of politics, propelled by a surging Nineties indie-rock riff. The video features the singers both blindfolded, performing in the midst of a group of cult-like followers. It was directed by Japanese Breakfast’s Michelle Zauner.
All of this is coming less than a week after the surprise-release of Better Oblivion Community Center, which is available to stream and will be available in stores February 22nd. According to band-leaders Bridgers and Oberst, the album is the result of informal cowriting sessions that’ve occurred on-and-off since they met in Los Angeles in 2016. The singers have toured together in the past, but in separate bands.
“I’d never had the experience of writing a full record with another songwriter like this,” Oberst told Rolling Stone. “The whole experience was just what the doctor ordered for me to get excited about music again.”
After releasing her debut solo album to widespread acclaim in the fall of 2017, Better Oblivion Community Center is yet another collaborative side-project for Bridgers, who spent the fall touring with Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker in the indie supergroup Boygenius. Bridgers is currently also working on her highly-anticipated second solo album.
“I was a little self-conscious about it,” she told Rolling Stone of her decision to follow her debut album with several side-projects. “But then I just thought, ‘Fuck it.’ This is what’s happening right now.I’ve done a pretty good job of letting the part of my brain win that says I should just go with whatever’s happening.”
Better Oblivion Community Center Tour Dates
March 8th – Tucson, AZ @ Rialto Theatre
March 9th – Las Vegas, NV @ Bunk Bar
March 10th – San Diego, CA @ Music Box
March 11th – San Luis Obispo, CA @ Fremont Theater
March 13th – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom
March 15th – San Francisco, CA @ August Hall
March 19th – Salt Lake City, UT @ Metro Bar
March 20th – Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater
March 21st – Omaha, NE @ Slowdown
March 22nd – Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line
March 23rd – Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall
March 25th – Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom
March 26th – Pittsburgh, PA @ Mr. Smalls Theatre
March 28th – Boston, MA @ The Sinclair
March 29th – New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
March 30th – Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
March 31 – Providence, RI @ Columbus Theatre
April 2nd – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
April 3rd – Washington, DC @ Black Cat
April 4th – Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle
April 5th – Asheville, NC @ Grey Eagle
April 6th – Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West
April 7th – Nashville, TN @ Basement East
April 9th – Austin, TX @ Mohawk
April 10th – Dallas, TX @ Trees
April 12th – Santa Fe, NM @ Meow Wolf
April 13th – Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom
April 29th – Helsinki, Finland @ House of Culture
May 1st – Oslo, Norway @ Rockefeller
May 2nd – Stockholm, Sweden @ Berns
May 3rd – Copenhagen, Denmark @ Vega
May 5th – Berlin, Germany @ Columbia Theater
May 6th – Cologne, Germany @ Kantine
May 7th – Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Paradiso
May 8th – Antwerp, Belgium @ De Roma
May 11th – London, England @ O2 Shepherds Bush Empire
May 12th – Manchester, England @ O2 Ritz