New fun :: “Walking The Dog”

Back in May I went and saw the new band incarnation of Nate Ruess (frontman from The Format). They’re called “fun” and they certainly were – a shimmering, enthusiastic, multi-instrumental explosion of joy. With members of Anathallo and Steel Train, fun is gearing up to continue the goodness where The Format left off.

Nate’s got a marvelous theatrical voice that rises to the top of any songs he sings over. The Format were one of my favorite pop bands (and one of the best live shows) of my last 5 years, and I was sorry to see them break up.

The good news is, half the genius of Format lives on in fun (minus Sam Means, sadly) and GET THIS, PEOPLE: Nate sings a few Format songs during fun’s sets (like the colossal singalong of “The First Single”!!). I won’t deny how deeply good it felt to sing along with those again at the very top of my lungs. I thought I’d never hear them again live.

Fun just announced a bunch of Fall tour dates, and released a new song. It’s shiny and ebullient, loaded with feel-good “na na na naaaaa!”s. The full-length debut album Aim & Ignite comes out August 25th on Nettwerk.

Escucha:

FUN FALL TOUR DATES:

With Hello Goodbye

August 14th                Chic’s                          El Paso, TX
August 15th                Launchpad                   Albuquerque, NM
August 16th                Club Congress            Tucson, AZ
August 18th                Club Karma                 Victorville, CA
August 19th                Chain Reaction            Anaheim, CA
August 19th                Chain Reaction            Anaheim, CA
August 21st                 Velvet Jones               Santa Barbara, CA
August 23rd                Stockton Empire Theatre    Stockton, CA
August 25th                Chop Suey                  Seattle, WA
August 26th                Hawthorne Theatre      Portland, OR
August 27th                The Boardwalk            Orangevale, CA

Headline Tour

September 8th              Kilby Court                 Salt Lake City, UT
September 9th              Club 156                     Boulder, CO
September 11th            Shelter                         Detroit, MI
September 12th            Intersection                  Grand Rapids, MI
September 13th            Water St.                     Rochester, NY
September 15th            Northstar                     Philadelphia, PA
September 16th            Great Scott                  Boston, MA
September 17th            Mercury Lounge         New York, NY
September 18th            Jammin Java                Vienna, VA
September 20th            Drunken Unicorn        Atlanta, GA
September 22nd            Rocketown                  Nashville, TN
September 23rd            Firebird                       St, Louis, MO
September 24th            Schuba’s                      Chicago, IL
September 25th            Triple Rock                 Minneapolis, MN

Who’s down for some Fun tonight?

Tonight at the Marquis in Denver, we are fixin to have some Fun, of the variety that features Nate Ruess (formerly of The Format).

Fun is opening for Manchester Orchestra (also fun), along with Oakland’s Audrye Sessions and Winston Audio from Atlanta.

Benson Hedges – Fun

So much fun we can’t even stand it.

Brand new “fun” from Nate Ruess of The Format

When Arizona intelli-pop band The Format broke up a few months ago, a little part of my heart broke. I loved those guys; the homemade “Format Sunny Supermix” is still a superstar on my car radio, all summer every summer.

Well, hooray hooray for some good news before this summer ends: lead singer Nate Ruess has a new band, called simply “fun.” Strike two on the not good for Googling, guys. They’re trying to undermine my whole system of band data gathering. Subversive.

But hey, this new demo is just great; he doesn’t care to be forgiven, he only wants to be forgotten. Read more about the formation of the new band in a blog post from Nate, and listen to this sweet tune. It’s good to hear his voice again.

Benson & Hedges (demo) – fun