Anyone hoping to see Gnarls Barkley share a stage this autumn will need to adjust their expectations. Just days after announcing the To Whom It Still Concerns tour, the duo have confirmed that producer Brian Burton, widely known as Danger Mouse, will not be joining vocalist CeeLo Green for the North American run. The tour, which marks the first time Gnarls Barkley material has been taken on the road since 2008, will now proceed with Green singing the catalogue on his own.
Green addressed the situation on social media to clarify the arrangement before ticket holders arrive at venues across the United States and Canada. He explained that he wanted to prevent any misunderstandings or disappointment, confirming outright that Burton will not be performing. Describing Burton as both his creative partner and his business associate, Green stated that Burton has every right to choose his own path, adding that mutual support between the two remains intact. Burton will still be there in spirit, according to Green, who also offered a blunt assessment of the tour itself, cautioning followers that this run of shows probably will not happen again.
Promoters have moved quickly to reflect the change in their marketing. Revised tour posters no longer present the shows as a full duo engagement, altering the billing across North America to read as CeeLo Green performing Gnarls Barkley. The update recasts what was initially presented as a long-awaited reunion into a solo celebration of the group catalogue, led entirely by its singer.
The North American leg is tightly scheduled across the month of November, beginning on November 5 at The Masonic in San Francisco. Green will then travel south to Los Angeles for an appearance at The Wiltern on November 7, followed by a concert at the Coca-Cola Roxy in Atlanta on November 10. The schedule moves through The Fillmore Detroit on November 13 and Citizens House Of Blues in Boston on November 15, before heading to The Fillmore Silver Spring in Maryland on November 19. A stop at HISTORY in Toronto on November 22 leads into a two-night stand at Irving Plaza in New York on November 24 and November 25, the second date having been added to meet ticket demand. The North American run concludes at the House Of Blues in Chicago on November 28.
Four United Kingdom concerts are scheduled to follow in December. Those dates include Manchester Academy on December 8, O2 Academy Glasgow on December 9, Wolverhampton Civic Hall on December 11, and British Airways ARC in London on December 12. Unlike the North American promotional materials, the UK shows continue to carry the standard Gnarls Barkley moniker, leaving it unclear whether Burton plans to participate in those international gigs or if Green will continue solo overseas.
The tour follows what the pair have framed as the conclusion of their recorded partnership. Earlier this year, Gnarls Barkley broke an eighteen-year gap in original material with the release of the track Pictures. That song led into their third studio album, Atlanta, which arrived in March. Both Green and Burton presented the record as a definitive capstone, intending it to serve as the deliberate close of their joint discography.
Their collaborative history took off in 2006 with the release of their debut album, St. Elsewhere, an effort anchored by the international hit Crazy. The track earned a place in chart history by becoming the very first single to top the UK charts solely on download sales, remaining at number one for nine consecutive weeks. The duo followed that record in 2008 with The Odd Couple, which stood as their final shared project until this year. While those songs will soon return to concert venues, the visual image of both partners sharing the stage appears to belong firmly to the past.
