It’s unfortunate that the press chose to focus on the way Saul Williams’ The Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust! was sold instead of the music itself. The last you probably heard about the album was when Trent Reznor from Nine Inch Nails announced on his website that only 18 percent of people who downloaded the album paid for it. (The site, www.niggytardust.com, gives you the option of paying $5 for a high-fidelity version or downloading a 192 KB version for free.) NiggyTardust! may have been a failure from a financial standpoint, but was it a success from an artistic standpoint? Few critics have bothered to answer that question.
For those who actually enjoyed NiggyTardust as a recording, not just a publicity stunt, Williams has announced the first dates for an extensive tour. He’ll go to colleges, concert halls and nightclubs; work from the East Coast to the West Coast, and then up to Canada; and even head out to SXSW. (Those dates have yet to be announced.) You’ll have plenty of chances to see the renaissance man live.
In related news, Williams recently released a video for “Sunday Bloody Sunday,” his sterling cover of the U2 classic. A clip of the video and the concert itinerary are listed below.
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- 2/01: Babson College, Babson Park, MA
- 2/06: UC Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA
- 2/15: Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, WA
- 2/16: Music Hall Center, Detroit, MI
- 2/19: Illinois State University, Normal, IL
- 3/12: Austin Convention Center, Austin, TX
- 3/17: Plaza Club, Vancouver, BC
- 3/18: Aladdin, Portland, OR
- 3/19: Neumo’s, Seattle, WA
- 3/21: Slim’s, San Francisco, CA
- 3/22: SOHO Music Club, Santa Barbara, CA
- 3/24: Casbah, San Diego, CA
- 3/25: Troubadour, Los Angeles, CA
- 3/26: Clubhouse, Tempe, AZ
- 3/27: Chandler Gilbert Community College, Phoenix, AZ
- 3/28: Estrella Mountain Community College, Phoenix, AZ
- 3/29: Launchpad, Albuquerque, NM
- 3/31: The Loft, Dallas, TX
- 4/01: Warehouse Live Studio, Houston, TX
- 4/03: The Parish, New Orleans, LA
- 4/04: The Loft, Atlanta, GA
- 4/06: Ramshead, Annapolis, MD
- 4/07: 930 Club, Washington, D.C.
- 4/08: Paradise Lounge, Boston, MA
- 4/09: Irving Plaza, New York, NY
- 4/11: Trocadero, Philadelphia, PA
- 4/12: Iron Horse, Northampton, MA
- 4/13: La Tulipe, Montreal, QC
- 4/14: Mod Club, Toronto, ON
- 4/16: Blind Pig, Ann Arbor, MI
- 4/17: Grog Shop, Cleveland, OH
- 4/18: Martyrs, Chicago, IL
- 4/19: Varsity Theatre, Minneapolis, MN
- 4/21: Fox Theatre, Boulder, CO
- 4/22: Belly Up Tavern, Aspen, CO
- 4/23: Kilby Court, Salt Lake City, UT
Plug One review: Saul Williams, The Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust!
www.saulwilliams.com
www.niggytardust.com
www.myspace.com/saulwilliams
