One of the Twin Cities' most successful rock bands of the 2000s and early-2010s, Motion City Soundtrack, is gearing for a comeback in 2020.
The Minneapolis-reared quintet of Warped Tour and Epitaph Records fame has announced a string of reunion gigs starting with a New Year's Eve show in Chicago and continuing through at least the end of January.
A Minneapolis show is mysteriously listed at the end of their January tour itinerary with the date and venue blurred out. Sources hint at the hometown gig being one of the opening shows for the Fillmore, Live Nation's new 2,000-plus-capacity venue in downtown Minneapolis, due to open in the first quarter of 2020. Several of the other Fillmores around the country – ours is part of a growing chain of Live Nation-owned venues with that legendary name – are also hosting Motion City's tour in other cities. The band frequently worked with Twin Cities area Live Nation reps at the Varsity Theater. Stay tuned for an announcement from Live Nation.
Although they never landed a major radio hit like their pals/mentors in Blink-182 -- despite enlisting Blink's Mark Hoppus and the Cars' Ric Ocasek to produce their records -- the fellas in MCS kept up an impressive tour regiment and maintained a faithful fan base from the release of their first album for Epitaph Records, 2013's "I Am the Movie," to their last, 2015's "Panic Stations."
They announced their farewell tour in 2016 and haven't played since then, although co-founders/leaders Justin Courtney Pierre and Josh Cain stayed close and continued working together. Cain even produced Pierre's 2018 solo album, "In the Drink," which the MCS frontman continues to promote with his own band, including shows this weekend out east and two upcoming Minneapolis dates: a July 26 set opening for Jawbox at First Avenue and a free outdoor gig Aug. 16 at the Lake Harriet Bandshell opening for "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" in the Summer Music & Movies series.
There's no word yet on what Motion City's plans are after these initial dates. As fans well know, though, the band was always kind of skittish about the future.
