SEATTLE, WA, Jan. 29, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- By Sophia Khomenko
Vancouver-based experimental punk project Big City Germs have announced an international tour titled 38 Dates Later, spanning 16 countries across Asia and the Middle East in spring 2026. The run is widely considered the most geographically ambitious tour undertaken by an independent band in 2026.
Lead guitarist Ivan Flores surfs the crowd at a recent concert.
The tour launches March 4, 2026 in Tokyo and concludes April 26, 2026 in Istanbul. Over seven weeks, the band will perform 38 shows across Asia, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe. Stops include Iraq, Syria, Mongolia, Nepal, Cambodia, Georgia, and Armenia — countries rarely, if ever, included in Western punk touring circuits.
A defining milestone of the tour is a performance in Erbil, making Big City Germs the first North American punk band to perform in Iraq.
Every date on 38 Dates Later was booked directly by the band. The tour is being executed without label backing, tour sponsorship, or multinational promoters, relying instead on direct coordination with venues and organizers across the region.
Big City Germs have steadily built momentum on the North American and European underground circuit, previously completing two Canadian national tours and a 21-city European tour. Their music has accumulated more than 143 million cumulative streams worldwide. 38 Dates Later represents the largest and most logistically complex undertaking of the band’s career.
“We’re not touring a market,” says singer Kevin McCauley. “We’re touring a philosophy. In a world that feels paralyzed by geopolitics, we wanted to prove that individual agency still exists. We’re crossing borders on our own steam to connect with people directly.”
McCauley has described the project as “diplomacy at 120 decibels.” The band refers to the tour as the “weaponization of joy” — the idea that loud, collective release can be a radical act in societies shaped by restriction and control.
“For 90 minutes, nobody in the room is defined by their government or their borders,” McCauley says. “It’s just people in a mosh pit. That’s the most honest connection we know how to make.”
Asked about touring politically complex regions, McCauley is unequivocal:
“We don’t tour for governments. We tour for people. Leaving scenes isolated doesn’t help anyone. Showing up does.”
38 Dates Later concludes in Istanbul on April 26, 2026.
Aki Jones Big City Germs booking@bigcitygerms.com www.bigcitygerms.com
