Tortoise Announce Series of Special Concerts Across Fall 2025
Today Tortoise announce a series of special concerts to take place across October and November 2025. The announcement follows the March release of digital single “Oganesson,” the band’s first new music in 9 years, and the subsequent Oganesson Remixes, an EP containing reworks of the single by Saul Williams, Makaya McCraven, Heba Kadry, Patrick Carney of The Black Keys, and Broken Social Scene, all of which previews a new album to be released by International Anthem and Nonesuch Records this fall.
The run begins with a performance at Los Angeles contemporary art museum The Broad on October 18th, and is followed by two shows in Texas the next week. The band then return to Chicago for a special performance with the Chicago Philharmonic, before a show at University of Kentucky, and a rare two-night stand at New York’s Bowery Ballroom. The run culminates with a performance at the legendary Barbican Centre in London. Full list of dates, venues, and ticket links below. For most shows, tickets go on sale this Friday, July 18th, at 10am local time.
Los Angeles CA – Saturday October 18th – The Broad – tickets
Austin TX – Thursday October 23rd – Radio/East – tickets
Marfa TX – Saturday October 25th – Flying Island – tickets
Chicago IL – Tuesday November 11th – The Auditorium w/ Chicago Philharmonic – tickets
Lexington KY – Wednesday November 12th – Singleton Center for the Arts – tickets
New York NY – Friday November 14th – Bowery Ballroom – tickets
New York NY – Saturday November 15th – Bowery Ballroom – tickets
London UK – Saturday November 22nd – Barbican Centre – SOLD OUT
November 11th will be particularly special, as the band plays a unique hometown show with the Chicago Philharmonic at The Auditorium. Tortoise will debut new music and perform classic material from their influential catalog, accompanied by a live orchestra in a first-of-its-kind performance for the band at the historic landmarked venue in downtown Chicago. The concert promises to be an immersive experience — one that reflects both the experimental and iconic spirit of Tortoise and the classical prowess of the Chicago Philharmonic, held in the acoustically rich setting of The Auditorium. Tickets here.
ABOUT TORTOISE
Tortoise is widely considered one of the most influential music groups of the last 40 years, with a wide-reaching impact on the contemporary music scene. Pitchfork says: “Imagine a graphic showing all the bands the five members of Tortoise were in before they came together and then all the bands they went on to play with after. At the top of the funnel you have groups ranging from dreamy psych-rock to earthy post-punk crunch, including Eleventh Dream Day, Bastro, Slint, and the Poster Children; on the ‘post-Tortoise’ end are groups focusing on electro-jazz and twangy instrumental rock like Isotope 217, Chicago Underground, and Brokeback. In this graphic, Tortoise is the choke point, the one project that has elements of all these sounds but is never defined by nor committed to any of them. Instead, Tortoise floats free, a planchette moving over a Ouija board guided by 10 sets of fingers, where everyone watches the arrow float in one direction but no one is quite sure how it gets there or who is doing the pushing.”
The band, which originally formed in Chicago, comprises Jeff Parker, Dan Bitney, Douglas McCombs, John Herndon, and John McEntire.
Initially hailed as pace-setters of the then-emerging, so-called “post-rock” sound, the Chicago Tribune called Tortoise’s sound “mood music that refuses to be shoved into the background, as inviting as it is challenging.” Releasing just seven albums since 1990 — including classics like 1996’s Millions Now Living Will Never Die, 1998’s TNT, and 2001’s Standards —Tortoise has steadily and intuitively evolved across its life, creating genreless music that is as timeless as it is ahead of the curve.
The band’s legacy goes beyond its recorded output, as well. Per the New York Times: “While Tortoise’s albums have experimented with the editing and overdubbing possibilities of the studio, the band thrives performing in real time.” Rolling Stone deems Tortoise “a live marvel,” while Pitchfork further says the band’s performances reveal that “at heart, they’re a supremely fun band, wide open to all sorts of sonic possibilities.”