Guide to Cool Tour Featuring As I Lay Dying, Underoath

It may have an unassuming, unflashy name, but the first annual Cool Tour is quickly ascending to hot ticket status this summer. The tour kicks off July 12 and is sponsored by Metal Blade, Atticus Black by Atticus Clothing and Musician's Institute College of Contemporary Music. The bill is a healthy, exciting mix of metal, with As I Lay Dying headlining and Underoath, Between the Buried and Me, Blessthefall, the Acacia Strain, Architects, Cancer Bats and War of Ages rounding out the roster of acts. It's a 'cool' tour since the shows are also held inside, at air conditioned venues, so there'll be no muggy metal played in the blazing heat of the day, thankfully.

Chris Dudley of Underoath told Noisecreep that Cool Tour is the final tour of the band's current album cycle, saying, "Yeah, we are about as far at the end of this album cycle as we can get and we are ready to release our new stuff!" Dudley also said there will be new merch and new songs and "that excites us." It surely excites the fans in the crowd, too. The set list hasn't been hashed out yet, so it's anyone's guess if old songs will be dragged out of the UO vaults. Dudley also plans to check out Architects, who he says "are great live and are great friends of ours. Also, we've never toured with BTBAM, so we are stoked on that. It's gonna be a good time."

Acacia Strain vocalist Vincent Bennett said the band will be unveiling limited-edition merch. "We are going to be doing Cool Tour exclusives," Bennett told Noisecreep. "The merch designs are going to be all new, and you won't be able to get them anywhere but our shows on the tour!" As if that weren't enough new stuff, Bennett also said, "We are going to be playing one or two new songs. This will be the first time any material off our new record will be heard live!" All the more reason to snatch up tickets now if you are an Acacia Strain fan.

Blessthefall's Beau Bokan believes that the Cool Tour holds its own in a very dense summer tour season thanks to the incredible and "not boring" stable of bands performing. "When you look at the lineup for the Cool Tour, you can't help but be blown away," the singer said. "There are no other tours this summer with a lineup that will kick your ass from start to finish. Usually when you go to see 10 bands and there is one or two you might get bored with. Not in this case. Every band is aggressive, heavy and is dying to melt and shred your face."

Bokan also admitted that the band he is most stoked on seeing live is Architects. "I saw them open up for Bring Me the Horizon a few months ago and they blew me away," he said. "So get to the show early and check those dudes out. I was trying to think about the negative side to touring during the summer and since all these shows will be indoors -- hence the appropriate title of 'Cool Tour' -- we will be blessed with not having to sweat our asses off onstage every day! We're gonna hopefully hit up some rivers and lakes along the way and have some real summer fun. I'm thinking about maybe even bringing a Slip 'n' Slide along. Could be amazing."

Cancer Bats' singer Liam Cormier echoed Bokan's sentiment about the projected good times that will be had. "This whole tour from top to bottom is going to be such a party," Cormier told Noisecreep. "We get it kicked off pretty early so kids better show up ready to get down! It's going to be a gnarly night with lots of bands, so I hope everyone is ready for marathon of brutality."

"'Cool Tour' is an amazing opportunity and could not have come at a better time," War of Ages vocalist Leroy Hamp told Noisecreep. "On stage, you'll see anger and aggression in its truest form. We put so much into our songs emotionally, and a live show is a perfect way to express ourselves in a physical manner. So come out and experience the raw aggression of War of Ages on the Cool Tour."

Cool Tour dates

7/12 -- Orlando, FL -- House Of Blues (no Acacia Strain)

7/13 -- Atlanta, GA -- The Tabernacle

7/14 -- N. Myrtle Beach, SC -- House of Blues SC

7/15 -- Charlotte, NC -- The Fillmore Charlotte

7/16 -- Baltimore, MD -- Sonar

7/17 -- Toronto, ON -- Sound Academy

7/18 -- Royal Oak, MI -- Royal Oak Music Theatre

7/20 -- Boston, MA -- House of Blues Boston

7/21 -- Sayreville, NJ -- Starland Ballroom

7/22 -- Philadelphia, PA -- Electric Factory

7/23 -- Columbus, OH -- The LC Pavilion

7/24 -- Milwaukee, WI -- Eagles Complex

7/25 -- St. Louis, MO -- The Pageant

7/27 -- Houston, TX -- Verizon Wireless Theater

7/28 -- Dallas, TX -- The Palladium Ballroom

7/30 -- Mesa, AZ -- Mesa Amphitheatre

7/31 -- Los Angeles, CA -- Hollywood Palladium

8/1 -- San Francisco, CA -- The Warfield