Minus The Bear Expand Reunion With 'Menos el Oso' 20th Anniversary Tour

03-11-2025

More big news for Minus The Bear fans. Not only is the band reuniting to headline the Best Friends Forever festival in Las Vegas in October, more fans will have the chance to catch them live when they embark on the "Menos el Oso" 20th anniversary tour this fall. The Syndicate sent over the following details:

Formed in Seattle, WA at the turn of the millennium, and founded by a veritable who's-who of local musicians, including singer-guitarist Jake Snider (Sharks Keep Moving), guitarist David Knudson (Botch), Cory Murchy on bass, drummer Erin Tate (Kill Sadie) and keyboardist-engineer Matt Bayles, Minus the Bear burst onto the alternative rock scene in the waning days of nineties burn-out, and at the birth of the early-aughts indie revival. When they played their debut show in Seattle back in September 2001, there was an immediate hype surrounding the band.

Four years later, on August 23, 2005, the band would release their sophomore album, Menos el Oso, on local independent label, Suicide Squeeze Records. Since then there have been a number of line-up changes, with the addition of Alex Rose on keyboard and backing vocal duty and drummer Joshua Sparks.

The band bid farewell to performing in 2018, to focus on other priorities, but the passage of time has brought them back together, just in time to celebrate the album that changed their lives forever twenty years after the fact. Last week, the band was announced as co-headliners of Best Friends Forever in Las Vegas, NV this October, and today are thrilled to announce a nationwide tour, where they will be playing the seminal album in full.

Guitarist and founding member David Knudson, while reflecting on the album, notes "Menos el Oso put us on a trajectory that none of us were expecting. There is a "before 'Pachuca Sunrise' video" moment in time, and then there is an "after 'Pachuca Sunrise' video" moment in time. It seemed like once people heard that song, and saw that video, everyone went straight to Limewire, Napster, Soulseek, BitTorrent, etc. and shared the album immediately. Celebrating the twentieth anniversary of something this monumental in our lives is a gift. Having the chance to appreciate it with our fans, families and fellow bandmates while we are all alive and kicking is an opportunity I can't wait to embrace."

At the first Minus the Bear rehearsal in seven years earlier this year, the band's drummer Joshua Sparks put it this way, "These songs are like having a really nice car in the garage... it'd be a shame not to take them out for a drive every now and then."

Minus the Bear Tour Dates:
10/04/25 - Portland, OR @ Roseland Theater
10/06/25 - Sacramento, CA @ Ace of Spades
10/07/25 - San Francisco, CA @ Regency Ballroom
10/08/25 - San Diego, CA @ The Observatory North Park
10/10/25 - Las Vegas, NV @ Best Friends Forever Festival
10/11/25 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Belasco
10/12/25 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Belasco
10/14/25 - Tempe, AZ @ Marquee Theatre
10/17/25 - Dallas, TX @ Granada Theater
10/18/25 - Austin, TX @ Emo's Austin
10/21/25 - Orlando, FL @ The Beacham
10/22/25 - Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade
10/24/25 - Philadelphia, PA @ The Fillmore
10/25/25 - Boston, MA @ House of Blues
11/05/25 - Washington, D.C. @ 9:30 Club
11/07/25 - Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel
11/08/25 - New York, NY @ Irving Plaza
11/11/25 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Roxian Theatre
11/12/25 - Cleveland, OH @ House of Blues
11/14/25 - Detroit, MI @ Majestic Theatre
11/15/25 - Chicago, IL @ Metro
11/16/25 - Chicago, IL @ Metro
11/18/25 - Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
11/21/25 - Denver, CO @ Ogden Theatre
11/22/25 - Denver, CO @ Ogden Theatre
11/23/25 - Salt Lake City, UT @ The Depot
11/28/25 - Seattle, WA @ The Showbox
11/29/25 - Seattle, WA @ The Showbox