British acts The Verve and Massive Attack are foregoing a summer in the tepid English sunshine for a tour of North American arenas and coliseums that takes the bands from New York to Seattle.

The 12-date tour will send the two bands zig-zagging across the country together, playing venues with between 5,000- and 10,000-seat capacities. The tour begins with a July 28 date at the Rosemont Horizon in Des Plaines, Ill.

The Verve tasted stateside success for the first time with last year's release of the highly acclaimed Urban Hymns, which has sold over half a million copies in the U. S., and is currently #51 on The Billboard 200 albums chart. Meanwhile, Massive Attack look to break through with Mezzanine, which -- in a landmark maneuver for a band on a major label -- has been previewed on a U.K. website in an attempt to generate interest for the LP (May 12).

"We're very excited about both of these artists. There's tremendous excitement in America now about The Verve with Urban Hymns and Massive Attack [with their new album]," said a label spokesperson, who refused to give her name.

Earlier this year, The Verve elected against doing a planned theater tour

this spring, instead opting to hold off until summer when they could play

larger venues, based on the continued selling power of Urban Hymns.

The Verve/Massive Attack Tour Dates:

July 28; Des Plaines, Ill., Rosemont Horizon

July 29; Auburn Hills, Mich., The Palace

July 31; Hamilton, Ont., Copps Coliseum

Aug. 1; Montreal, Que., Molson Centre

Aug. 3; Lowell, Mass., Tsongas Arena

Aug. 5; New York, N.Y., Madison Square Garden

Aug. 7; Atlanta, Ga., Alexander Memorial Coliseum

Aug. 9; Houston, Texas, Aerial Theatre

Aug. 11; Morrison, Colo., Red Rocks

Aug. 14; Anaheim, Calif., Arrowhead Pond

Aug. 15; San Francisco, Calif., Bill Graham Auditorium

Aug. 17; Seattle, Wash., Key Arena