Earlier this year, North Carolina-based singer, songwriter, and musician MJ Lenderman released one of 2024’s most celebrated records, Manning Fireworks, effectively establishing him as “a bright young star in the indie rock firmament.” (NPR Music) Following his late-night television debut on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon last month and a fully sold-out fall North American tour, today, the band announces a March 2025 Australia/New Zealand tour, featuring a headline performance at the iconic Sydney Opera House on Tuesday, March 25th.
Aotearoa Shows:
Sun. Mar. 30 – Christchurch, NZ @ Loon
Mon. Mar. 31 – Wellington, NZ @ Meow
Tue. Apr. 1 – Auckland, NZ @ Double Whammy
In conjunction with the tour announcement, MJ Lenderman releases a video for Manning Fireworks standout ‘You Don’t Know The Shape I’m In,’ which “boasts one of his prettiest, dreamiest, and most surprising arrangements [on the album]” (Hearing Things). The video was directed by Chuck Shreve and Angel James, and is about “a defective model who struggles to make sense of the world he’s born into. Ultimately, this is our attempt at a 1:1 remake of Toy Story 2.”
Praise for MJ Lenderman & Manning Fireworks
“the Poet Laureate of Indie Rock”—Interview Magazine
“Manning Fireworksis a masterpiece about quotidian misery that’s as playful and comforting as a best friend.”—Stereogum
“[MJ Lenderman’s] poignant songs pulse with humour and rays of light”—The New York Times
“[Manning Fireworks] is loaded with zingers and losers. It’s witty and sincere, the mark of a songwriter finding his voice.” — Pitchfork, Best New Music
“Lenderman hits his stride with a record that wears its influences on its sleeve (Neil Young, early Wilco, Jason Molina’s Songs: Ohia) but creates something distinctive and affecting.” — Esquire, The 20 Best Albums of 2024 (So Far)
“One of the best indie-rock records of the year.” — Wall Street Journal
“Lenderman is simply making the kind of warm and astringent rock and roll that has felt untethered from time since 1968.” — New Yorker
“[Manning Fireworks] expands Lenderman’s country-rock creative palette without losing its signature wit or intimacy.”— Billboard
“Great poets of sad-sackery, from Loudon Wainwright III to Paul Westerberg to Neil Young, come to mind on Manning Fireworks. Lenderman takes that vaunted rock tradition and spins it into something of his own.”— Rolling Stone
“A staggering refinement of no-frills songwriting.”— FLOOD
“[Lenderman] isn’t just a killer guitar player, a lyrical genius, or an arrangement auteur — he’s all three at once.”— Consequence
“On Manning Fireworks, he is already wrestling against the pillars of his identity, questioning things he seemed to know for certain just one album ago. He has never sounded more searching, more tender.”—Hearing Things
“Lenderman’s output with The Wind is lyrically straightforward and unflinching in its honesty while doling out plenty of wit to go with the wisdom.” — Radio Milwaukee
“There might not be a live sequence greater than ‘TLC Cagematch,’ ‘Joker Lips,’ ‘Pianos,’ ‘She’s Leaving You’ and ‘No Mercy,’ and we should all be thankful Lenderman gifted us with a run that special.”— Paste
“MJ Lenderman is one of the best songwriters of modern times.” — UPROXX
Manning Fireworks Out Now Via ANTI-
Manning Fireworks Album ArtworkMJ Lenderman
Manning Fireworks Tracklising
01. Manning Fireworks
02. Joker Lips
03. Rudolph
04. Wristwatch
05. She’s Leaving You
06. Rip Torn
07. You Don’t Know The Shape I’m In
08. On My Knees
09. Bark At The Moon
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