The Raconteurs make 'Lonely' tour longer

The Raconteurs [ tickets ] have added new US dates to their current headlining tour behind the band's new studio album, "Consolers of the Lonely."The indie-rock supergroup--which features Jack White of The White Stripes and singer/songwriter Brendan Benson--is due to make its next appearance May 17 in Irvine, CA, as part of a radio station festival event. New dates on the trek, which now looks to hit 15 North American cities through early August, include second shows added in a number of cities, New York and Detroit among them. Details are below.Following the US run, the group will head to Europe for a number of shows and summer festivals. Check the band's website for international dates.The band did no advance promotion for "Consolers of the Lonely," which was recorded in early March and rushed into production in both vinyl and CD form. The group announced the existence of the 14-track set only days before its release."With this release, The Raconteurs are forgoing the usual months of lead time for press and radio set up, as well as forgoing the all important 'first week sales,'" read a press announcement posted at the band's website. "We wanted to explore the idea of releasing an album everywhere at once and THEN marketing and promoting it thereafter. The Raconteurs would rather this release not be defined by its first weeks sales, pre-release promotion, or by someone defining it FOR YOU before you get to hear it."The band released the set in late March through a wide array of distribution channels, including online and traditional retail stores, partially, the group explained, in an effort to defeat attempts to leak the new record onto the Internet. The set, which follows the band's 2006 debut, "Broken Boy Soldiers," entered the Billboard 200 album chart at No. 7, selling about 42,000 copies its first week.