Sugar Ray tour charts U.S. concert dates this summer for ‘Cougar’

Pop-rock group Sugar Ray is joining the flood of ’90s bands reuniting for a tour of the United States this summer. The 36-city outing launches July 24 at Dakota Magic Casino in Hankinson, ND, and wraps September 26 at the Hard Rock in San Diego, CA.

The nine-week tour will take Sugar Ray through small- and medium-sized clubs from coast to coast. Highlights include a July 29 concert at the House of Blues in Cleveland, OH, an August 4 show at the Paradise in Boston, MA, an August 19 performance at the House of Blues in New Orleans, LA, a September 11 gig at the Showbox in Seattle, WA, and a September 22 set at the Rialto Theater in Tucson, AZ.

Some plans for the summer tour are still being finalized. The band’s September 12 performance in Portland, OR, will be booked at either the Wonder Ballroom or Roseland Theater. Ticket on-sale dates and times for the confirmed tour dates have not been announced yet.

Sugar Ray announced in May 2008 that they would be entering the studio to record their first full-length album in five years. The effort, titled “Music for Cougars,” is scheduled for a July 21 release on Pulse Recording. The first single, “Boardwalk,” will hit airwaves sometime this month.

“Back in 2003, the writing was on the wall for bands like us,” frontman Mark McGrath recently told Billboard. “Radio was changing, music was doing what it does, it was just going through a cycle. We weren’t selling a lot of records and we were like, ‘You know, maybe we should take a break from the grind of recording and touring and see what else is out there.'”

McGrath also explained that the band doesn’t have any misconceptions about state of the industry and commercial market that they’re reentering. He explained to Billboard, “We have realistic views of how the music industry is today. I know people aren’t sitting on the edge of their seats waiting for a Sugar Ray record. But that wasn’t the point. It was purely because we love to make music.”

Sugar Ray debuted in 1995 with the album “Lemonade and Brownies,” but didn’t break through to the mainstream market until the single “Fly” catapulted the 1997 album “Floored” to the No. 12 position on the Billboard 200. The group released five studio albums in all, leaving off in 2003 with “In the Pursuit of Leisure,” which peaked at No. 29 on the charts.

Sugar Ray itinerary:
(Dates are subject to change.)