Franz Ferdinand tour plots North American dates for ‘Tonight’

Scottish rock troupe Franz Ferdinand has mapped plans for a spring tour across North America to support the band’s latest release. The nearly 20-date jaunt launches April 13 at Paramount Theatre in Seattle, WA, and ends May 8 at Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel in Providence, RI.

Along the way, the dance-rock quartet will make stops for an April 18 show at The Marquee in Tempe, AZ, an April 28 performance at First Avenue in Milwaukee, WI, and May 7 at Roseland Ballroom in New York, NY. Only one show has been booked north of the U.S. border so far: a May 4 concert at Kool Haus in Toronto, ON.

The band will also make an appearance on the U.S. festival circuit with an April 17 set at the 10th annual Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival. The three-day destination event announced its 2009 lineup in late January, with more than 130 acts scheduled to perform including headliners Paul McCartney, The Killers and The Cure.

Franz Ferdinand is touring behind its third studio album “Tonight: Franz Ferdinand,” released on January 27 in the U.S. The first single “Ulysses” has hit No. 20 on Billboard‘s modern rock chart, with the album earning a No. 9 debut on the Billboard 200.

The long-awaited release follows 2005’s “You Could Have It So Much Better” and the band’s 2004 eponymous debut. The Glasgow-based group is composed of vocalist/guitarist Alex Kapranos, guitarist/keyboardist Nick McCarthy, bassist Bob Hardy and drummer Paul Thomson.

Franz Ferdinand itinerary:
(Dates are subject to change.)