After wowing crowds in the U.K. and making such celebrity friends as Fatboy Slim, Elton John, and Madonna, the British electronic duo known as Groove Armada will bring its funk-based rhythms to North America for a brief tour next month.

Formed by Tom Findlay and Andy Cato in London during the mid-'90s, Groove Armada scored a series of hit dance singles on the U.K. charts before issuing its "Vertigo" album in the U.S. in 1999.

Madonna asked the band to contribute a song to "The Next Best Thing" soundtrack, and now the Armada's "I See You Baby" single is earning spins -- and concerts -- in American dance clubs, particularly a version re-mixed by Fatboy Slim.

Groove Armada's Findlay and Cato recently chatted with MTV News about their pending North American tour, for which they've enlisted the aid of a rather sizable backing band.

"The live set is something we're very proud of," Cato commented. "It's a nine-piece live band. When we set [out] to do the live thing, obviously a lot of dance music is based around visually-oriented shows, which just involves standing in front of equipment and not doing a great deal.

"Our background is playing in funk bands, and we wanted to bring that to the new setup, so we're surrounded by brilliant musicians," [RealVideo] he continued. "There are all sort of technical issues with doing that, in keeping the whole thing kind of fat and chunky and good enough for the sort of dance music that people are used to hearing.

But I think we've dealt with that now," Cato said, "and we're coming over to the states in June to do two weeks of dates over here."

"We're looking forward to it," Findlay added,

After playing the states, Groove Armada will pack up its army of backing musicians and return to the U.K. for an appearance at the Glastonbury Festival on June 23.

Date for Groove Armada's upcoming North American tour:

  • 6/1 - Mexico City, Mexico @ Salon 21 (DJ DATE)
  • 6/3 - Vancouver, BC @ Sonar (DJ DATE)
  • 6/4 - Seattle, WA @ Showbox
  • 6/6 - San Francisco, CA @ Bimbos
  • 6/7 - Los Angeles , CA @ Mayan Theatre
  • 6/10 - Denver, CO @ Ogden Theatre
  • 6/12 - Dallas, TX @ Trees
  • 6/14 - Chicago, IL @ House of Blues
  • 6/15 - Toronto, ON @ Government
  • 6/16 - Montreal, QC @ Metropolis
  • 6/17 - Boston, MA @ Axis
  • 6/18 - Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
  • 6/19 - New York, NY @ Irving Plaza