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BoDeans have revealed that they will celebrate their 40th anniversary in 2026 with a massive tour that will carry them from coast to coast starting in late January. According to a press release, there will be more than 100 shows.<\/p>\n
The roots rockers have announced 28 dates so far beginning Jan. 30 in Prior Lake, Minnesota and carrying through to Des Plaines, Illinois June 6. You can see the complete list of shows below. Additional information and ticket purchase links are available at the band’s website<\/a>.<\/p>\n Vocalist and guitarist Kurt Neumann cofounded the group with guitarist and vocalist Sam Llanas at the beginning of the ’80s, initially going by Da BoDeans. They started to seriously gig in the Milwaukee area and beyond starting in 1983. Inking a deal with Slash\/Warner Bros., their debut album, Love & Hope & Sex & Dreams<\/em> emerged in 1986, produced by T Bone Burnett.<\/p>\n They eventually notched a number of songs that became fan favorites, including “Good Things,” “Fadeaway,” “Still the Night,” “Paradise” and 1993’s “Closer to Free,” which memorably got a lot of attention when it was tapped to be the theme song for the ’90s Fox teen drama Party of Five<\/em>. More recently, Neumann has written over 70 songs for the Netflix program The Ranch<\/a><\/em> and BoDeans music found its way into seasons 2 and 4 of the Hulu smash The Bear<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n READ MORE:<\/strong> TV Shows from the ’80s and ’90s You Might Remember<\/a><\/p>\n Watch the Bodeans’ ‘Closer to Free’ Video<\/strong><\/p>\n In a 2014 conversation with this author, Neumann reflected back on the formative days for the band. “We were just a three-piece at first and doing this weird kind of rockabilly\/alt-country stuff,” he remembered. “It was our thing and it was pure and stuff like that, but as you get signed to labels and as people leave and you go through the process, things change and you try to adapt and you try to make sense of it.”<\/p>\n “But if you listen to our first record and our fourth or fifth record and they\u2019re very different. Because that\u2019s the way life is,” he explained. “It would be hard to just be one thing only, but certainly in this business, in the arts, you know, you want to change. You\u2019d be crucified if you don\u2019t change and then you get crucified if you do change. So you\u2019ve just gotta follow your heart in it.”<\/p>\n Llanas departed from the lineup in 2011<\/a> and it is Neumann who has carried the group forward for more than a decade since then. Understandably, to be at the 40-year mark comes as a surprise to him personally, but he also admits that after such a long span, he’s feeling the passage of time.<\/p>\n “If you could somehow go back and get your hands on a yearbook from my graduating class, [the] 1979 Waukesha South Black Shirt and you flipped through the pages and found my picture, you\u2019d find a picture of a plain, average looking boy\/man,” he said in a statement. “But more interestingly, you\u2019d see a quote underneath that says \u2018Never too old to rock \u2018n\u2019 roll.\u2019 Well, after 40 years of driving from town to town to play the many songs I\u2019ve written over the years I have to say,\u00a0 I\u2019m not so sure anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n “That is to say, I’m\u00a0starting to feel every mile and every show and every leap from every drum riser and piano and run through the audience. Every night of sleeping in a bad hotel bed or a bunk on a moving bus. Or driving through the night at 3am, trying to get to your hotel room so you can just lay your head down and finally get some sleep. And hopefully the pillows don\u2019t smell as bad as you know they will,” he continues. “When you step off into a journey like this, you never know just where it may lead or for how long. I knew I wanted to do something positive and creative in this world. And though there have been many ups and downs over the last 40 years — some extremely stressful on me and my family — music was always that beautiful escape for me in my life. And so, I would escape into it every day. But I never ever imagined I would be standing up on a stage, singing my songs even for one year.”<\/p>\n A new BoDeans album, appropriately titled 1983<\/em>, is set to be released in 2026 during the tour.<\/p>\n BoDeans, 2026 40th Anniversary Tour Dates<\/strong> Rock reunions are creating some of the biggest headlines for 2026 \u2013 but there are lots of other huge shows on the way.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Gallery Credit: Nick DeRiso<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nWhat’s the Future of BoDeans?<\/h3>\n
Jan. 30 – Prior Lake, MN @ Mystic Lake Casino Showroom
Jan. 31 –\u00a0Skokie, IL @ North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie
Mar. 05 –\u00a0Solana Beach, CA @ Belly Up \u2013 CA
Mar. 06 – Malibu, CA @ Smothers Theatre Pepperdine University
Mar. 07 – Menlo Park, CA @ Guild Theatre
Mar. 08 –\u00a0Sonoma, CA @ Sebastiani Theatre
Mar. 14 – Phoenix, CA @ Celebrity Theatre
Mar. 15 –\u00a0\u00a0Tucson, AZ @ Fox Tucson Theater
April 03 –\u00a0\u00a0La Crosse, WI @ La Crosse Center Riverside Ballroom
April 04 –\u00a0\u00a0Wausau, WI @ The Grand Theater
April 09 –\u00a0\u00a0Stoughton, WI @ Stoughton Opera House
April 10 –\u00a0Stoughton, WI @ Stoughton Opera House
April 11 –\u00a0\u00a0Aurora, IL @ Paramount Theatre
April 17 –\u00a0\u00a0Indianapolis, IN @ The Shelton Auditorium
April 18 –\u00a0\u00a0Hobart, IN @ Hobart Art Theater
April 30 –\u00a0\u00a0Old Saybrook, CT @ Katherine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center
May 01 –\u00a0Salisbury, MA @ Blue Ocean Music Hall
May 02 – Plymouth, MA @ The Spire Center for the Performing Arts
May 03 –\u00a0Springfield, MA @ Hope Center for the Arts
May 05 – Kingston, NY @ Assembly Kingston
May 06 –\u00a0\u00a0Red Bank, NJ The Vogel @ Count Basie Center for the Arts
May 07 –\u00a0\u00a0Sellersville, PA @ Sellersville Theater
May 08 –\u00a0Annapolis, MD @ Rams Head On Stage
May 09 –\u00a0Alexandria, VA @ The Birchmere
May 13 –\u00a0\u00a0Oakmont, PA @ The Oaks Theater
May 14 –\u00a0\u00a0Cleveland, OH @ House of Blues
June 05 –\u00a0Green Bay, WI @ Meyer Theatre
June 06 – Des Plaines, IL @ Des Plaines Theatre<\/p>\n2026’s Biggest Rock Tours<\/h2>\n