Reel Big Fish, The English Beat tour announces summer co-head concerts

Ska music titans Reel Big Fish and The English Beat have announced a summer partnership that will take them to more than 20 cities across the United States. The trek kicks off July 3 at the Royal Oak Music Theatre in Royal Oak, MI.

The co-head circuit is currently booked through August 12 at Minnesota Zoo Amphitheater in Apple Valley, MN. The itinerary includes stops on July 7 at the House of Blues in Boston, MA; July 9 at the Nokia Theatre in New York, NY; July 20 at The National in Richmond, VA; and July 27 at Warehouse Live in Houston, TX.

In addition to the headline duties shared by Reel Big Fish and The English Beat, the summer tour will also feature support from The Supervillains. More dates are still being added to the itinerary and are regularly updated on the Reel Big Fish’s official MySpace page.

“We are so excited to be playing with one of our favorite bands of all time and one of the biggest influences on our music!” said Aaron Barrett, frontman for Reel Big Fish, in a statement. “We love the English Beat. This tour is a dream come true for us!”

Dave Wakeling, frontman for The English Beat, responded, “I was thrilled many years ago to be invited to play at Reel Big Fish’s first album release party, and we are thrilled again to be touring with them now that they are bona fide Skadfathers!”

Simply dubbed The Beat in their native UK, two tone veterans The English Beat are currently celebrating their 30th anniversary. The Birmingham-based band formed in the late 1970s and helped drive the English ska revival until their split in 1983. The group’s original lineup performed a single show in 2003, and Wakeling has since reformed the band for touring in the U.S.

Ska-punk band Reel Big Fish is on the brink of “veteran” classification itself. Led by the only original member Aaron Barrett, the band has released seven albums since forming in the early ’90s. The most recent studio effort was the January 2009 release “Fame, Fortune and Fornication,” which hit No. 177 on the Billboard 200.

Reel Big Fish & The English Beat itinerary:
(Dates are subject to change.)