Pitchfork

No matter your take on R.E.M.'s forthcoming Accelerate-- hard-charging return to form, a hollow shell of a once-great rock band, or, most likely, somewhere in between-- one thing's for sure: these new songs are gonna be a hell of a lot more fun to hear live than "Leaving New York" ever was.

So whether or not you'll swoon for "Sing for the Submarine", you'll delight in knowing that R.E.M. have thrown several new gigs into their touring itinerary over the coming months, including a four-date run in the UK in late August.

Of course, all that won't come until after the band wraps its big plans to tool around North America with Modest Mouse and the National, to say nothing of the glut of mostly European, frequently festival appearances they'll do in July and August. And, you know, they actually have to release Accelerate, which they'll do-- with a little help from Warner Bros.-- March 31 in the UK and April 1 in the U.S.

Oh, and make sure to check out Pitchfork contributor Stephen M. Deusner's interview/dental wizardry with R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe right here.

R.E.M.:

05-23 Vancouver, British Columbia - Deer Lake Park *
05-29 Los Angeles, CA - Hollywood Bowl *
05-31 Berkeley, CA - The Greek Theatre *
06-03 Denver, CO - Red Rocks Amphitheatre *
06-06 Chicago, IL - United Center *
06-08 Toronto, Ontario - Molson Amphitheatre *
06-10 Raleigh, NC - Walnut Creek Amphitheatre *
06-11 Washington, DC - Merriweather Post Pavilion *
06-13 Boston, MA - Tweeter Center for the Performing Arts *
06-14 Long Island, NY - Jones Beach Theater *
06-18 Philadelphia, PA - Mann Center for the Performing Arts *
06-19 New York, NY - Madison Square Garden *
06-21 Atlanta, GA - Lakewood Amphitheatre *
07-02 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Westerpark
07-03 Werchter, Belgium - Werchter Festival
07-05 Bilbao, Spain - Bilbao Festival
07-06 Barcelona, Spain - Doctor Loft 05:00 Festival
07-08 Lyon, France - Theatre Romain (Les Nuits de Fourvière)
07-09 Nice, France - Theatre de Verdure
07-12 Dublin, Ireland - Oxegen Festival
07-13 Balado, Scotland - T in the Park Festival
07-15 Dresden, Germany - Elbufer
07-16 Berlin, Germany - Waldbuhne
07-18 Locarno, Switzerland - City Square (Moon and Stars)
07-20 Perugia, Italy - Umbria Jazz Festival
07-21 Verona, Italy - Arena
07-23 Naples, Italy - Neapolis Festival
07-24 Udine, Italy - Villa Manin
07-26 Milan, Italy - Arena Civica
08-14 Salzburg, Austria - Frequency Festival
08-16 Budapest, Hungary - Sziget Festival
08-17 Prague, Czech Republic - Slavia Stadium
08-19 Stuttgart, Germany - Ehrenhof
08-20 Rhine, Germany - Loreley
08-22 Wurzburg, Germany - Marienfeste
08-24 Manchester, England - L.C.C.C.
08-25 Cardiff, Wales - Millenium Stadium
08-27 Southampton, England - Rosebowl
08-30 London, England - Twickenham Stadium
09-03 Oslo, Norway - Ullevaal Stadium
09-04 Bergen, Norway - Koengen Stadium
09-06 Copenhagen, Denmark - Parken Stadium
09-07 Stockholm, Sweden - Stadium
09-09 Helsinki, Finland - Finnair Stadium

* with Modest Mouse, the National