The Rapture Returns With a Tour After ‘a Lot of Personal Healing Over the Years’: Here Are the Dates

The Rapture, the New York dance-punk band that became indie darlings in the 2000s, has announced its first proper headlining tour in 15 years. The 26-city trek will kick off on Sept. 16 in Minneapolis, and runs through North America before heading to the U.K. and Europe for select dates in November.

Formed in 1998 by guitarist-vocalist Luke Jenner, The Rapture earned raves with its 2003 album Echoes, and widened its audience with 2006’s Pieces of the People We Love and 2011’s In the Grace of Your Love, before going on an extended hiatus after that project.

“Years ago when I stepped away from the band I was needing time and space to piece together my life,” Jenner explained in a press statement. “I needed to fix my marriage, be there for my son and ultimately work on myself. This tour marks a new chapter for me, one shaped by everything I’ve lived through and learned along the way. I’ve achieved everything I hoped to achieve through music, and now I get to use it to help anyone else who maybe needs it like I did back then.”

The band reunited in 2019 and Jenner released a solo project, 1, the following year. Aside from a few spot-date reunions, however, The Rapture has been inactive on the road since 2010.

“The idea to take The Rapture back on tour wasn’t some grand, strategic decision,” Jenner says in a statement to Billboard. “It kind of unfolded the way life does when you’re finally listening to it instead of forcing things. I’d done a lot of personal healing over the years and somewhere in all that space, I found clarity. There’s a sense of purpose now for me that wasn’t there before. 

“The preparation for this tour hasn’t just been about rehearsing the songs — it’s been about grounding myself,” Jenner continues. “I truly feel these shows could be some of the most honest and alive ones we’ve ever played and that’s what I’m showing up for — to create something that speaks to people. I’ve done everything I ever dreamed of in music, and now it’s a way to give back — to offer something real to anyone who might need it, the way I once did.”

Pre-sale tickets for the tour begins on Wednesday (July 9). Check out the full tour itinerary for The Rapture below: