It has been eighteen years since CeeLo Green and Danger Mouse shared a concert stage, but the duo have finally decided to bring Gnarls Barkley back on the road. The run, titled the To Whom It Still Concerns tour, is scheduled for November and December across North America and the United Kingdom. It marks their first live performances together since 2008, arriving directly in the wake of their recent studio return.
The live dates serve as a companion to Atlanta, their third full length album, which arrived in March. When the pair announced the project back in February, they made it clear that this record would serve as the closing chapter for Gnarls Barkley. Framing Atlanta as a final statement means these upcoming dates are built less like an open ended reunion and more like a deliberate goodbye, giving listeners a chance to hear the material live before the project is retired for good.
The road back to the stage started with Pictures, the lead single that broke an eighteen year studio silence between the two musicians. Speaking about that track, Green mentioned that making it felt like returning to square one, describing the work as a full circle moment rooted in an experience from his childhood. That song rekindled the creative rhythm that first surfaced on their 2006 debut, St. Elsewhere, and continued on 2008's The Odd Couple. In 2006, their single Crazy broke new ground in the music industry by becoming the first song to reach Number One on the UK charts purely through digital download sales, a position it held onto for nine consecutive weeks.
Green has spoken about the upcoming performances in wide ranging terms, suggesting the tour will feel like an open book that touches on life, death, and everything between. According to the singer, these songs stand as the silver lining to a story that is otherwise sad, offering a reason for crowds to gather and celebrate what he called the beautiful madness of the entire journey. That combination of darker emotional themes set against upbeat music has always sat at the core of what the duo created.
The itinerary begins in California on November 5 at The Masonic in San Francisco, moving down to Los Angeles for a night at The Wiltern on November 7. Green will head home to Georgia on November 10 for a performance at the Coca-Cola Roxy in Atlanta, followed by a stop at The Fillmore Detroit on November 13 and Boston's Citizens House Of Blues on November 15. The North American leg continues at The Fillmore Silver Spring on November 19, reaches Toronto for a show at HISTORY on November 22, and heads into New York to play Irving Plaza on November 24. The run across the continent finishes on November 28 at the House Of Blues in Chicago.
In December, Green and Danger Mouse travel across the Atlantic for four dates in the United Kingdom. That run begins on December 8 at Manchester Academy, moves north to the O2 Academy Glasgow on December 9, stops at Wolverhampton Civic Hall on December 11, and concludes on December 12 at London's British Airways ARC venue.
Instead of booking cavernous arenas, the pair have opted for mid sized halls and theaters such as Irving Plaza and Detroit's Fillmore, an approach that keeps the staging comparatively direct and personal. For the North American dates, presales for Citi cardholders and Spotify listeners begin on September 21, while an artist presale opens on September 23. General tickets go on sale September 24 at 10am local time. For the UK shows, an artist presale starts at 10am BST on September 23, with the general public gaining access at 10am BST on September 25. Having stayed away from the stage since 2008, Green and Danger Mouse are now ready to close out the Gnarls Barkley catalog in person.
