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Speedy Ortiz is about to hit the road with Liz Phair, and included in their roughly two-dozen shows together is a very sold-out October 8 gig at Royale in Boston. Before the tour kicks off tomorrow in Atlanta, Speedy paid tribute to Phair by covering her lost ’90s song “Blood Keeper,” an outtake from Phair’s 1998 album Whitechocolatespaceegg.
The track is available to stream and purchase via Bandcamp, with proceeds going to produce and distribute a “Making Spaces Safer” pocket guide, created by War On Women’s Shawna Potter. Speedy Ortiz’s Sadie Dupuis says the idea for the cover was conceived over Twitter DMs.
“As far as our choice of song, here’s the first DM I ever sent to Liz Phair: ‘thanks much for saying hi, it means a lot!! scream tv series made me remember ‘blood keeper.’ vague plans to record it gary numan style haha.’ I have kept in touch with my hero since then, and three years later, I’m so thankful we finally get to join her on tour.”
Dupuis adds: “‘Blood Keeper’ is one of my favorites of hers, made all the more tantalizing because 1. it was never officially released 2. there’s, like, NO information available about it online 3. other than that it was apparently submitted for the Scream 2 soundtrack??? We tried our best to do homage to this gorgeous mystery rock song (although not so much on the Gary Numan style promise), and are psyched the money can go to Shawna’s awesome pocket guide. Shawna and I have a shared interest in using our music to spread awareness, and to empower people to make their scenes more inclusive. So of course I was super excited when I got my copy of ‘Making Spaces Safer.’ If every venue’s staff had access to it, bands would have stronger allies in keeping their fans happy and safe. We came up with the idea of doing a fundraiser for the pocket guide, with the hopes of getting a few copies in the hands of each venue along our tour.”
Dupuis also revealed that Mouthguard, her full-length collection of poetry, will be published by Gramma Press this November 1. The poems date back to the very early days of Speedy Ortiz.
Featured image by Shervin Lainez.
Speedy Ortiz 2018 Live Dates:
September 6 – Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse*
September 7 – Birmingham, AL @ Saturn*
September 8 – Raleigh, NC @ Hopscotch Festival*
September 10 – Louisville, KY @ Headliner’s Music Hall*
September 11 – Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom*
September 13 – Detroit, MI @ Majestic Theatre*
September 14 – 15 – Chicago, IL @ Riot Fest*
September 15 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue*
September 18 – Seattle, WA @ The Showbox*
September 19 – Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom*
September 20 – San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore*
September 21 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Theatre at Ace Hotel*
September 23 – Anaheim, CA @ Chain Reaction%
September 24 – San Diego, CA @ Bellly Up Tavern*
September 25 – Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom*
September 27 – Austin, TX @ The Mohawk*
September 28 – Dallas, TX @ Granada Theater*
October 1 – Nashville, TN @ Exit/In*
October 2 – Cincinnati, OH @ 20th Century Theater*
October 3 – Washington, D.C. @ 9:30 Club*
October 5 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer*
October 6 – New York, NY @ Brooklyn Steel*
October 8 – Boston, MA @ Royale*
October 9 – Montreal, QC @ Corona Theatre*
October 10 – Toronto, ON @ Phoenix Concert Theatre*
October 12 – Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall*
October 17 – London, UK @ The Garage^
October 18 – Nottingham, UK @ Rough Trade Nottingham^
October 19 – Leeds, UK @ Belgrave Music Hall^
October 20 – Birmingham, UK @ Hare & Hounds^
October 22 – Glasgow, UK @ Stereo^
October 23 – Manchester, UK @ Now Wave Venue^
October 24 – Brighton, UK @ Patterns^
October 25 – Bristol, UK @ The Louisiana^
*With Liz Phair
^With Doe
%With Potty Mouth and Gypsum