By Chris Riemenschneider

Motion City Soundtrack frontman Justin Pierre sounded unusually excited and exasperated last month when I ran into him and asked him about the band's upcoming major-label debut. Sounds like he and his bandmates really rose to the occasion and worked their tails off on the disc, once again produced by their pal Mark Hoppus of Blink-182 fame. No release date has been set yet, but it should be out early-to-mid-2010 on Columbia, with the working title "The Dinosaur Life."

Now, it seems, MCS is ready to let off some steam in the meantime. They have booked three nights Dec. 18-20 at a new venue in Chicago, Lincoln Hall, where they plan to perform all three of their previous albums in their entirety. Pre-sale tickets are now on sale at the band's website ($20 apiece, or $49.99 all three nights).

Twin Cities fans who don't have an aunt in Chicago they can stay with and are feeling left out, don't worry, the band also has some special activities planned in its hometown -- even including something special this month, I'm told. Stay tuned.