JOVM mainstays The Afghan Whigs — currently Greg Dulli (vocals, guitar), John Curley (bass), Patrick Keeler (drums), multi-instrumentalist Rick Nelson and the band’s newest member, Blind Melon’s Christopher Thorn (guitar) — released their ninth album, 2022’s How Do You Burn? to widespread critical acclaim from Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, Los Angeles Times, Spin,Stereogum, Billboard and others.
Late last year, saw the band tackling two songs — — Poliça‘s “Fake Like” and Still Corners “Downtown” — that seemed perfect for the band’s unique take on them.
The JOVM mainstays will celebrate their 40th anniversary this year with a month-long tour with Mercury Rev that includes an April 30, 2026 stop at Webster Hall. Tour dates are below. You can visit https://linktr.ee/theafghanwhigs for tickets and more.
“40 years later, I still get to do the thing I love the most. Writing songs and performing them with my friends all over the world,” The Afghan Whigs’ co-founder and frontman Greg Dulli says. “I truly have to pinch myself.”
But in the meantime the JOVM mainstays have shared a bit of new material that includes “House of I,” and their latest single “Duvateen.” “Deriving its title from the name of the light manipulating material, “Duvateen” is a meditative, piano-driven power ballad with the titular material being a metaphor for mortality and the dark abyss just off in the background of our lives.
At the core of the new single is a narrator with the recognition that they’re no longer young and that their own mortality is looming just over their shoulder. “When I finished “Duvateen,” it felt like my life passing before my eyes,” The Afghan Whigs’ Greg Dulli says. “The references to the teacher chasing me down the hall reminded me of my childhood. Digging a hole was an obvious allusion to a grave. I’m at a precipice in life where I can look behind and clearly see the forest of my youth, but I can also see the path to the other side. And it’s going to inform what I do for the rest of my days.”
The Afghan Whigs & Mercury Rev Tour Dates
April 25 – Woodstock, NY – Bearsville Theater
April 27 – Boston, MA – Royale
April 28 – Washington D.C. – 9:30 Club
April 30 – New York, NY – Webster Hall
May 1 – Philadelphia, PA – Union Transfer
May 2 – Pittsburgh, PA – Mr. Smalls Theater
May 4 – Buffalo, NY – Town Ballroom
May 5 – Cleveland, OH – House Of Blues
May 6 – Cincinnati, OH – Bogart’s
May 8 – Milwaukee, WI – Turner Hall Ballroom
May 9 – Chicago, IL – Metro
May 10 – Minneapolis, MN – Varsity Theater
May 12 – Denver, CO – Summit Music Hall
May 15 – Portland, OR – Aladdin Theatre
May 16 – Vancouver BC – Commodore Ballroom
May 17 – Seattle, WA – The Showbox
May 19 – San Francisco, CA – The Fillmore
May 20 – Los Angeles, CA – The Bellwether
May 22 – Santa Ana, CA – The Observatory
May 23 – San Diego, CA – The Observatory North Park
May 24 – Pioneertown, CA – Pappy & Harriett’s
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