ECHOBRAIN: Full US Tour Announced

ECHOBRAIN, featuring former METALLICA bassist Jason Newsted, guitarist/vocalist Dylan Donkin, and drummer Brian Sagrafena, kicked off their 2002 Keep Me Alive tour in Petaluma, California on Wednesday, March 20th to a packed house.

Although primarily a local crowd, the audience consisted of several fans who flew in from as far away as Chicago and Dallas to witness the event.

The band's 80-minute set included nearly every song from their eponymous debut album (released on March 5th on Chophouse/Surfdog Records) plus six new songs for a follow-up LP, which will be recorded later this year. For Wednesday's show, as well as on the entire tour, guitarist Chris Scianni and keyboardist/percussionist Dave Borla rounded out the line-up.

For Jason, there was only one way to put his feelings on the show into words. “It's like when the sun is too bright, but you wanna open your eyes anyway,” he said.

A few more West Coast dates will be played in preparation for the band's six-week US run to be followed by a string of summer festivals in Europe.

Early reaction to the album, which debuted at #34 on the Billboard New Artist chart, has been nothing less than stellar. The San Jose Mercury News wrote, “Straight-ahead rock, deep and rich, with layers you want to hold up and examine and listen to over and over... like nothing else out there.” Playboy lauded the album as well in a review that read, “The trio's debut is an intricate, often gorgeous tapestry of melodic alt-rock. With a sound this fresh, it's easy to understand Newsted's decision, and hard to believe that ECHOBRAIN hasn't been around forever.” Overseas, the press has been just as strong, including this from NME, “Rather beautiful. ECHOBRAIN have the gift of pleasant surprise.”

ECHOBRAIN's forthcoming US dates are as follows:

Apr. 06 - San Francisco, CA @ Slim's
Apr. 12 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Roxy
Apr. 13 - Tempe, AZ @ Bash On Ash
Apr. 26 - Salt Lake City, UT @ X-Scape
Apr. 27 - Denver, CO @ The Bluebird Theater
Apr. 29 - Minneapolis, MN @ The Quest
Apr. 30 - Madison, WI @ Barrymore Theatre
May 02 - Milwaukee, WI @ The Rave
May 03 - Urbana, IL @ Canopy Club
May 04 - Chicago, IL @ Double Door
May 06 - Grand Rapids, MI @ The Intersection
May 07 - Indianapolis, IN @ Emerson Theatre
May 08 - St. Louis, MO @ The Galaxy
May 10 - Cleveland, OH @ The Odeon
May 11 - Royal Oak, MI @ Royal Oak Theatre
May 13 - New Haven, CT @ Toad's
May 14 - Boston, MA @ Paradise
May 16 - Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
May 17 - Philadelphia, PA @ Theatre of the Living Arts
May 18 - Old Bridge, NJ @ Birch Hill
May 21 - New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
May 22 - Raleigh, NC @ Lincoln Theater
May 24 - Jacksonville, FL @ TBA
May 25 - Atlanta, GA @ Cotton Club
May 26 - New Orleans, LA @ Howling Wolf
May 29 - Houston, TX @ TBA
May 30 - Dallas, TX @ Tree's
May 31 - Austin, TX @ TBA