Neutral Milk Hotel Reunites, Announces Tour Dates

Neutral Milk Hotel, the beloved indie band that has been on hiatus for a decade and a half, is finally getting back together for a brief tour later this year.

The reunited group — featuring Jeff Mangum, Scott Spillane, Julian Koster and Jeremy Barnes — has announced five shows for fall 2013, with two shows in their hometown of Athens, Ga., in October followed by stops in North Carolina, Taiwan and Japan. Elf Power, Half Japanese and Daniel Johnston will serve as support acts, and the group also hints that there are “more [shows] to come” on their official web site.

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Neutral Milk Hotel went on hiatus following the 1998 release of In the Aeroplane Over the Sea and its coinciding tour. Although the album never charted on the Billboard 200, Aeroplane has become a cult classic and has sold 393,000 copies to date, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

After the disbandment of Neutral Milk Hotel, Mangum became a storied recluse before finally surfacing for a handful of shows in 2010. The frontman later toured as a solo artist in 2011 and 2012, performing Neutral Milk Hotel songs at festivals like All Tomorrow’s Parties and Coachella.

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Tickets for the band’s Athens shows go on sale Friday on their website. A portion of the profit from ticket sales will go to the charity Children of the Blue Sky.

Check out the Neutral Milk Hotel tour dates below:

Oct. 22: Athens, Ga. (40 Watt Club)
Oct. 23: Athens, Ga. (40 Watt Club)
Oct. 25: Asheville, N.C. (Thomas Wolfe Auditorium)
Nov. 28: Taipei, Taiwan (Hostess Club Festival)
Dec. 1: Tokyo, Japan (Hostess Club Festival)

Twitter: @billboard

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