Fans will be able to play game at venues, compete for chance to rock out onstage.
By Chris Harris
Panic at the Disco Photo: MTV News
You've been playing it in your basement for months, much to the chagrin of your parents and your girlfriend. Now, "Rock Band" will be coming to an amphitheater near you, along with
Panic at the Disco and
Dashboard Confessional. And if you're any good at the game, there's a chance that you, too, could end up rocking out onstage.
Panic and Dashboard are set to co-headline the inaugural "Rock Band" Live Tour, which kicks off October 5 in San Diego. The trek will hit 29 cities, wrapping up November 14 in Houston.
Plain White T's and
the Cab will be opening on all dates. Presale tickets go on sale August 1, and all remaining tickets will be available August 8.
On each date of the tour, "Rock Band" devotees who think they're up to the challenge can compete for a chance to take the main stage in between the bands' sets, where they'll rock through an entire song.
"It's the tour of your life, man," said Dashboard's Chris Carrabba, a self-professed "Rock Band" fan. "It's the greatest tour ever. We go and entertain you, but you also get a shot to get up onstage. The day you come to the show, you go to this area where they have gameplay, and you compete, head-to-head, against other players. And if you win, you get chosen to be onstage, playing in between bands, playing 'Rock Band.' "
Carrabba joked that he may even test his "Rock Band" skills with fans by entering some of the competitions.
"I went and got a fake ID with a different name, and I have a pair of sunglasses and a hat," he deadpanned. "[The game is] incredibly accurate. ... It's identical. And it's so intuitive for me, as a player, that I have become better at my instrument. It's gotten me a hotter girlfriend, it's made me better-looking, and I've made more money since playing it."
"Rock Band" Live will be Panic's first experience co-headlining a tour, and they're not so sure how that's going to work. "From what I hear, it's settled by the fist," bassist Jon Walker joked of determining the lineup. "That, or you pick out of a hat, which is not fun. We can run faster than Dashboard Confessional, so if it comes down to a foot race, it should be us."
Panic, who recently finished the
Honda Civic Tour, said they'll be bringing a bigger, louder show to the stage for "Rock Band" and are hoping to go halfsies with Carrabba on a few backstage distractions.
"We're working stuff out with his management, and we're talking about splitting the cost of a Ping-Pong table to take out," Walker said. "Also, a Slurpee machine and a churro machine."
Dates for the "Rock Band" Live Tour, according to
RockBandLiveTour.com:
» 10/5 - San Diego, CA @ San Diego Sports Arena
» 10/8 - Glendale, AZ @ Jobing.com Arena
» 10/9 - Las Vegas, NV @ Hard Rock Outdoors
» 10/10 - Los Angeles, CA @ Staples Center
» 10/11 - San Jose, CA @ San Jose State Event Center Arena
» 10/12 - Sacramento, CA @ Arco Arena
» 10/14 - Everett, WA @ Everett Events Center
» 10/16 - Salt Lake City, UT @ The E Center
» 10/17 - Denver, CO @ Broomfield Events Center
» 10/18 - Lincoln, NE @ Pershing Auditorium
» 10/19 - St. Louis, MO @ Scottrade Center
» 10/21 - Minneapolis, MN @ Target Center
» 10/22 - Chicago, IL @ Allstate Arena
» 10/23 - Ypsilanti, MI @ EMU Convocation Center
» 10/24 - Toronto, ON @ Arrow Hall
» 10/28 - Bridgeport, CT @ Arena at Harbor Yard
» 10/29 - Lowell, MA @ Tsongas Arena
» 10/31 - Washington, DC @ Patriot Center
» 11/1 - Philadelphia, PA @ Wachovia Spectrum
» 11/2 - Newark, NJ @ Prudential Center
» 11/4 - Atlanta, GA @ Gwinnett Center
» 11/6 - Tampa, FL @ USF Sun Dome
» 11/7 - Miami, FL @ Bank United Center
» 11/8 - Gainesville, FL @ University of Florida O'Connell Center
» 11/9 - Orlando, FL @ UCF Arena
» 11/11 - Bossier City, LA @ CenturyTel Center
» 11/12 - Dallas, TX @ Nokia Theatre
» 11/13 - Austin, TX @ Frank Erwin Center
» 11/14 - Houston, TX @ Reliant Arena
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