After fans had to wait more than a year for the release of Wilco's album Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, the band is making sure its devoted followers get plenty of chances to hear the new songs live. The group has just launched a tour that will hit U.S. soil on September 2, beginning at Seattle's Bumbershoot festival.

Among the bands supporting Wilco on the West Coast portion of their tour is the Minus 5 (September 2-12), featuring R.E.M.'s Peter Buck on guitar. The Minus 5 recorded a collaborative album with Wilco called Down With Wilco, and, in the spirit of the difficult birth of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (see "Wilco Stream New Album Online While Shopping For Label"), they are having trouble finding a label to release it. Other support acts include the Boas and the Shins.

Wilco will travel to Australia for the first time in January, when they join the as-yet-unannounced bill for the annual Big Day Out festival, according to the group's official Web site.

Sam Jones' documentary of the band, "I Am Trying to Break Your Heart," currently playing in more than 60 cities (see "Wilco Documentary Captures Band's Crash, Burn, Return"), is slated for release on DVD in late 2002 or early 2003. The DVD will feature at least 40 additional minutes of live and in-studio performance, as well as outtakes, photos and a filmmaker's diary.

Wilco tour dates, according to the band's publicist:

  • 9/2 - Seattle, WA @ Bumbershoot
  • 9/3 - Portland, OR @ Roseland Theater
  • 9/5 - Arcata, CA @ John Van Duzer Theatre
  • 9/6 - San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield
  • 9/7 - San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield
  • 9/9 - Los Angeles, CA @ John Anson Ford Theatre
  • 9/10 - Los Angeles, CA @ John Anson Ford Theatre
  • 9/12 - San Diego, CA @ 4th and B
  • 9/14 - Denver, CO @ Fillmore Auditorium
  • 9/15 - Kansas City, MO @ Beaumont Club
  • 9/16 - Columbia, MO @ Blue Note
  • 9/25 - Oxford, MS @ The Library
  • 9/26 - Dallas, TX @ Gypsy Tea Room
  • 9/28 - Austin, TX @ Austin City Limits Festival
  • 10/14 - Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
  • 10/15 - Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
  • 10/17 - New York, NY @ Roseland Ballroom
  • 10/19 - Boston, MA @ Orpheum Theatre
  • 10/25 - Ann Arbor, MI @ Michigan Theatre