As if the 15 months of touring Moby plans to do after this summer's Area2 weren't enough, the electronic music wizard will hit the road for a few weeks before the festival kicks off July 28.

Moby will play eight nights beginning July 10 in St. Paul, Minnesota, and ending July 25 in Portsmouth, Virginia.

The shows will promote the just released 18, though don't expect the "We Are All Made of Stars" crooner to perform the new songs as they are on record.

"18 is a very subdued, subtle sort of melancholic record," Moby said last month. "One of my challenges is gonna be to take some of these songs and actually present them in an interesting way in a live context. Part of that will be taking some songs that are very quiet and delicate and maybe making them a little more up-tempo and slightly more aggressive."

Aside from being in smaller venues, the solo shows will feature Moby performing for up to three hours, as opposed to the 90-minute headlining sets he will do on Area2.

Moby won't mind playing the "more concise, slightly truncated version" of his show on the second annual Area outing, however, since that only means he will be making more room for his hand-picked openers.

"Part of the criteria for picking people for the tour is that they have to make really interesting records, they have to be really eclectic, interesting musicians, but they also have to be able to put on a great show," Moby said.

"I played a concert a few years ago. It was Sonic Youth, Busta Rhymes and myself, and I was so impressed with Busta Rhymes' performance that I really wanted him to be involved in Area. And David Bowie is my favorite musician of the 20th century. He's an amazing live performer, and I can't think of a single musician from the 20th century who made as many remarkable albums as he did. And also he influenced everybody. You know, without David Bowie, popular music as we know it pretty much wouldn't exist."

Area2, which begins July 28 in Bristow, Virginia, and ends August 16 in George, Washington, will also feature DJs Carl Cox, John Digweed and the Avalanches (see ).

18 debuted at #4 on this week's Billboard 200 albums chart behind new releases from P. Diddy, Cam'ron and Weezer (see ).

Moby tour dates, according to his spokesperson:

  • 7/10 - St. Paul, MN @ Roy Wilkins Auditorium
  • 7/11 - Kansas City, MO @ City Market
  • 7/12 - St. Louis, MO @ Pops
  • 7/15 - Austin, TX @ Austin Music Hall
  • 7/16 - Houston, TX @ Verizon Wireless Theater
  • 7/23 - Atlanta, GA @ International Ballroom
  • 7/24 - Charlotte, NC @ Grady Cole Center
  • 7/25 - Portsmouth, VA @ Harbor Center

— Corey Moss, with additional reporting by Gideon Yago