Boy & Bear Announce 'Harlequin Dream' 10-Year Anniversary Tour

Aussie rockers Boy & Bear celebrated the tenth anniversary of their 2013 second album, Harlequin Dream, last year, but this May (and one date in August), fans can celebrate with them on the Harlequin Dream 10-year celebration tour.

The tour begins with three dates in New Zealand – at Wellington’s Opera House, Auckland’s Town Hall, and Christchurch’s James Hay (on 9, 10 and 11 May, respectively), before the band heads to Australia, starting their tour down under at Melbourne’s Forum on Friday, 24 May, then to Sydney’s State Theatre on Saturday, 25 May, and Perth’s Astor Theatre on Friday, 31 May.

Brisbane fans will have to wait, as the band aren’t due to perform at The Tivoli until Friday, 16 August. Special guest Sarah Blasko – playing a solo set – will join them on all dates, performing in New Zealand for the first time since 2012.

Australian punters can purchase tickets on Friday, 16 February, at 10 am local time, while New Zealand fans can buy tickets on Tuesday, 20 February, at noon. Tickets will be available via the Boy & Bear website.

Boy & Bear topped the ARIA Albums Chart in 2013 with Harlequin Dream, holding off P!nk's The Truth About Love at #2 and Fleetwood Mac's 25 Years – The Chain at #3. The result was predicted in mid-week figures after pre-orders put the album in a strong position.

In an album review for Harlequin Dream, The Music’s Pete Laurie wrote, “In a post-Mumford & Sons world, quiet, introspective folk music can be found lying under every vintage waistcoat and tin of moustache wax. But it takes more than just whacking in a banjo or mandolin to make this style work.

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“It takes a kind of non-pretentious sincerity that Boy & Bear deliver in spades. Harlequin Dream perfectly combines the jaunty swagger of neo-folk with real emotion and a touch of bittersweetness for an album of real substance.”

In other Boy & Bear news, the band will join American crooner Chris Isaak on his upcoming A Day On The Green dates this April.