It's no secret that we imaginaries adore Okkervil River. The Austin-based band embarks on a huger-than-huge world tour this Friday, with tour dates all over the damn place. Which is great news. Also great news is that the fellas are taking care not to destroy the planet with their touring ways, with the goal of, "making our fall US tour completely carbon neutral."

The band writes:

We are proud to announce our goal of making our fall US tour completely carbon neutral. Our plan has 2 parts: Reducing our fans' carbon footprint by encouraging you to ride bikes, carpool, or take public transit to the shows where possible, and offsetting the rest of our carbon emissions through purchasing Native Energy carbon offsets.

BIKES
We have teamed up with bike groups across the country to encourage bike riding as a safe, healthy, and eco-friendly way to travel.  There are currently rides scheduled in the following cities:

Madison, WI – 9/14/2008 – Barrymore Theatre
Portland, Oregon – 9/19/08 – Crystal Ballroom
Tempe, AZ – 9/25/08 – The Clubhouse
Athens, GA – 10/02/2008 – 40 Watt

Please check the “Green Tour” page of okkervilriver.com for more details about these rides.  We’ll also be updating that page with more information about other rides as they are scheduled.  If you want to contact us to schedule a ride, please email us

CARPOOLS
We have teamed with PickupPal so that you can find ride share possibilities in your neighborhood! Click the link below to find other fans in your area to share rides with to the show. http://www.pickuppal.com/pup/erp/okkervil-river-shows

OFFSETS
Regardless of how you get to the venues, you can individually offset your carbon footprint and help us reach our goal of a carbon-neutral tour. We will be selling eco-friendly and recycled stickers designed by Okkervil’s very own Scott Brackett. The stickers will be selling for two dollars and each purchase will offset 300lbs of CO2 emissions.

The band also just released a new record called The Stand Ins, which you can buy from their label (here) or from iTunes. To celebrate the release of the record, the band asked a few of their favorite songwriters to "stand in" for them and cover songs from the new record. You can watch videos of these covers — including performances from Bon Iver, A.C. Newman, Crooked Fingers, and Zykos, on the Okkervil River YouTube Channel.
 
And as if that all weren't enough, the band was kind enough to provide a ticket purchase link for each of the shows on their mega US and European tours. Ahhh, Will Sheff and co., we here at TIG think you are positively *dreamy*. Can't wait for the Showbox show next week…

Here are those tour dates:

* Upcoming Tour dates
09/12/2008 – The Bottleneck, Lawrence, Kansas  tix
09/13/2008 – The Slowdown, Omaha, Nebraska tix
09/14/2008 – Barrymore Theatre, Madison, Wisconsin tix
09/15/2008 – Aquarium, Fargo, North Dakota tix
09/17/2008 – Showbox, Seattle, Washington tix
09/18/2008 – Richard's on Richards, Vancouver, British Columbia tix
09/19/2008 – Crystal Ballroom, Portland, Oregon tix
09/20/2008 – McDonald Theatre, Eugene, Oregon tix
09/21/2008 – Treasure Island Music Festival, San Francisco, California tix
09/23/2008 – Henry Fonda Theater, Los Angeles, California tix
09/24/2008 – Belly Up Tavern, Solana Beach, California tix
09/25/2008 – Clubhouse, Tempe, Arizona tix
09/26/2008 – Club Congress, Tucson, Arizona tix
09/27/2008 – Emo's Outside, Austin, Texas tix
09/28/2008 – Austin City Limits Festival, Austin, Texas tix
09/30/2008 – The Republic, New Orleans, Louisiana tix
10/01/2008 – Workplay, Birmingham, Alabama tix
10/02/2008 – 40 Watt, Athens, Georgia tix
10/03/2008 – Soapbox, Wilmington, North Carolina tix
10/04/2008 – The National, Richmond, Virginia tix
10/06/2008 – Webster Hall, New York, New York tix
10/07/2008 – Webster Hall, New York, New York tix
10/08/2008 – Pearl Street, Northampton, Massachusetts tix
10/09/2008 – Mr. Smalls, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania tix
10/10/2008 – Tralf Music Hall, Buffalo, New York tix
10/11/2008 – Saints, Montreal, CA tix
10/12/2008 – Phoenix, Toronto, CA tix
10
/14/2008 – Metro, Chicago, Illinois tix

10/27/2008 – Loppen, Copenhagen, DK tix
10/28/2008 – Mejeriet, Lund, SE tix
10/29/2008 – Pusterviksbaren, Gothenburg, SE tix
10/30/2008 – Debaser Medis, Stockholm, SE tix
10/31/2008 – Chateau Neuf, Storsalen, Oslo, NO tix
11/01/2008 – Voxhall, Aarhus, DK tix
11/03/2008 – L'Alhambra, Paris, FR tix
11/04/2008 – Cactus, Brugge, BE tix
11/05/2008 – Norwich Waterfront, Norwich, GB tix
11/06/2008 – Manchester Academy, Manchester, GB tix
11/07/2008 – Dublin Academy, Dublin, IE tix
11/09/2008 – Oran Mor, Glasgow, GB tix
11/10/2008 – Wolverhampton Wulfrun, Wolverhampton, GB tix
11/11/2008 – Shepard's Bush Empire, London, GB tix
11/12/2008 – Brighton Concorde 2, Brighton tix
11/14/2008 – Melkweg, Amsterdam, NL tix
11/15/2008 – Knust, Hamburg, DE tix
11/17/2008 – Postbahnhof, Berlin, DE tix
11/18/2008 – Registratur, Munich, DE tix
11/19/2008 – Magazzini Generali, Milano, IT tix
11/20/2008 – Circolo Degli Artisti, Roma, IT tix
11/21/2008 – Estragon, Bologna, IT tix
11/22/2008 – Blue Bird Festival, Vienna, AT tix