Tune-Yards to perform at Bowery Ballroom on Oct. 9 following the release of new album Better Dreaming
Tune-Yards, the electrifying duo of Merrill Garbus and Nate Brenner, are set to bring their vibrant new album, Better Dreaming, to life with a performance at New York City’s iconic Bowery Ballroom on October 9. The album, out now, has already made waves with preview tracks like “How Big Is The Rainbow,” “Limelight,” and “Heartbreak.” Following a recent appearance on CBS Saturday Morning, where they performed live selections from the record, Tune-Yards continue to captivate fans with their genre-bending sound and energetic performances.
Earlier this week, Tune-Yards announced a full U.S. headline tour this fall, with newly added September dates kicking off in Washington D.C. on September 22 at the Howard Theatre. The tour follows a handful of shows supporting Ani DiFranco, and includes stops at Nashville’s Exit/In, Fine Line in Minneapolis, and wraps at New York City’s Bowery Ballroom. The band also recently announced a June West Coast run, with dates at The Bellwether in Los Angeles and a hometown show at Berkeley’s UC Theatre. Kassa Overall, Madison McFerrin and Ringdown will join the North American shows as support on various dates. These newly announced fall shows will mark the final leg of their U.S touring before heading overseas for a UK and European headline tour in November, including a performance at the Royal Festival Hall in London on November 22.
For all U.S. dates, Tune-Yards has partnered with PLUS1 so that $1 per ticket goes to supporting Street Spirit and their work as an independent newspaper dedicated to covering homelessness and poverty from the perspective of those most impacted. The paper is sold on the streets of Berkeley and Oakland by unhoused people, who keep 100% of the donations they receive.
Based in Oakland, California, Tune-Yards shot to fame with their 2011 4AD label debut W H O K I L L, which topped numerous critics year end lists. The album was preceded by their self-released cassette BiRd-BrAiNs and followed by three phenomenal records for the label – Nikki Nack, I can feel you creep into my private life and 2021’s sketchy. Garbus and Brenner are also known for their film score and composition work including the Boots Riley film Sorry To Bother You and TV series I’m A Virgo. They continue that collaboration with Riley on the upcoming NEON feature, I Love Boosters starring Keke Palmer, LaKeith Standfield and Demi Moore.
Better Dreaming is out now on all digital platforms, CD, standard black vinyl and clear blue wave vinyl (indie retail only). Click here to pre order.
Better Dreaming
Distraction, depression, and heartbreak reign supreme in 2025. “Making art in this day and age for me is a battle for focus; we’re in an age of interruption,” says Garbus of Tune-Yards’ sixth album Better Dreaming. Proudly waving an anti-fascist, liberation, freak flag, Better Dreaming contains some of Tune-Yards smoothest, funkiest, and most direct pop music to date, and yes, you can dance to it. And when you do dance to it, be prepared to sweat out something that’s been long stuck inside, and pretty deep down.
The songs of Better Dreaming came to Garbus and Brenner with unusual ease. They asked themselves what would happen if they simply let the songs come out, following any trail they wished – first thought, best thought style. There was a strong desire to move, to make music that would enter the ear and immediately loosen up the joints, get the whole body wiggling. After covid-isolation, and time away from touring and live shows, the desire to be moved by music was undeniable. The insane experience of growing an actual human being influenced this as well.
The rhythms throughout the record carry a certain freshness, with deep pockets full of subtle idiosyncrasies that stem from Tune-Yards’ return to making an album primarily as a duo. All but one of these songs are built around Garbus’ drum looping and rhythm building, as they were on some of the early albums like BiRd-BrAiNsand W H O K I L L – no full kit drummer here, and the songs love it.
Better Dreaming is ferocious in its invocation of self-love, of collective action, of dance floor liberation, ego-death deliverance, and a future we could all thrive in. When diving into the present darkness of the world, Tune-Yards asks themselves how much literal energy and joy can be conjured and pumped through the music. In its life-affirming art- pop of the apocalypse, Better Dreaming comes true.
Tour dates
Tickets are on sale now
June 11 – Los Angeles, CA, The Bellwether ^
June 13 – Berkeley, CA, UC Theatre “
June 14 – Felton, CA, Felton Music Hall ^
June 15 – Menlo Park, CA, The Guild ^
June 17 – Eugene, OR, WOW Hall %
June 18 – Portland, OR, Wonder Ballroom %
August 16 – Elora, ON, Canada, Riverfest Elora
August 23 – Carnation, WA, THING
September 6 – Evanston, IL, Evanston Folk Festival
September 9 – Fort Collins, CO, New Belgium Brewery *
September 10 – Boulder, CO, Chautauqua Auditorium *
September 11 – Boulder, CO, Chautauqua Auditorium *
September 14 – San Diego, CA, Humphrey’s Concerts by the Bay *
September 20 – Camden, NJ (XPN) – XPoNential Music Festival
September 22 – Washington, DC – Howard Theatre
September 24 – Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle
September 25 – Atlanta, GA – Terminal West
September 26 – Nashville, TN – Exit/In
September 27 – St. Louis, MO – Off Broadway
September 29 – Indianapolis, IN – HI-FI
September 30 – Milwaukee, WI – Vivarium
October 1 – Minneapolis, MN – Fine Line
October 2 – Madison, WI – The Majestic
October 4 – Kalamazoo, MI – Bell’s Back Room
October 5 – Detroit, MI – El Club
October 6 – Columbus, OH – Skullys
October 8 – Pittsburgh, PA – Mr. Smalls Theatre
October 9 – New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom
November 15 – Berlin, Germany, Festsaal Kreuzberg
November 17 – Amsterdam, Netherlands, Tolhuistuin
November 18 – Gent, Belgium, Wintercircus
November 19 – Paris, France, La Bellevilloise
November 21 – Brighton, UK, Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts
November 22 – London, UK, Royal Festival Hall
November 23 – Manchester, UK, Aviva Studios
November 25 – Leeds, UK, Irish Centre
November 26 – Glasgow, UK, St Luke’s
November 27 – Sunderland, UK, The Fire Station
November 29 – Dublin, Ireland, Whelan’s
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