Iggy Pop-Josh Homme tour coming to Northrop April 4

Josh Homme, Iggy Pop, Dean Fertita and Matt Helders.

Six days after they shocked the rock world by disclosing a secret new album and performing on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," Iggy Pop and his new partner Josh Homme (of Queens of the Stone Age) announced Wednesday a 20-city tour that includes an April 4 date at Northrop Auditorium in Minneapolis.

Iggy, who is 68, hasn't played the Twin Cities since a 2001 show at First Avenue. But a 2013 appearance I saw at Riot Fest in Denver proved he remains tougher than leather, and a vital performer who might be a half-step slower than his prime, but no less brave — or shameless about showing his Rodin-esque torso.

The tour begins in Seattle March 28 -- 10 days after the release of their album "Post Pop Depression" -- and concludes May 15 in Paris. That destination was no doubt chosen because of the horrific terrorist attack at a Paris concert by Homme's side project Eagles of Death Metal. (Homme was not present at that show.)

The announcement emphasized this will be a "one-time-only" deal. In an interview with the New York Times Sunday, Homme said they were planning a "brief" tour of "small beautiful theaters."

"There won't be hardly any shows, and they won't be in big places, and you won't be able to get a ticket," Homme said. "So almost everyone won't see it. It will be like trying to catch smoke in your hands. And that makes it even better. It will be special, and it will be over in the blink of an eye."

Tickets, priced at $105, $79.50 and $59.50 plus fees, will go on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday online at www.northrop.umn.edu or by phone at 612-624-2345. (Tickets, if still available, may also be purchased at the Northrop box office, but it's only open weekdays.)

According to Wednesday's announcement, "the Post Pop Depression tour will mark the sole occasion that the album lineup of Iggy, producer/guitarist/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist/bandleader Joshua Homme, Homme's Queens Of The Stone Age bandmate and Dead Weather-man Dean Fertita and Arctic Monkeys drummer Matt Helders — augmented by QOTSA multi-instrumentalist Troy Van Leeuwen and journeyman guitarist/bassist Matt Sweeney — will perform this material, as well as classics spanning Iggy's legendary solo career, in a live setting."

The album is said to pick up where Pop's mid-1970s collaborations with the late David Bowie left off.

In conjunction with the announcement, a new track from the album was released Wednesday, "Break Into Your Heart":

The full list of tour dates:

3/28 – Seattle, WA @ Paramount Theatre

3/29 – Portland, OR @ Keller Auditorium

3/31 – San Francisco, CA @ The Masonic

4/2 – Denver, CO @ Ellie Caulkins Opera House

4/4 – Minneapolis, MN @ Northrop Auditorium

4/6 – Chicago, IL @ Chicago Theatre

4/7 – Detroit, MI @ Fox Theatre

4/9 – Toronto, ON @ Sony Centre for the Performing Arts

4/11 – Boston, MA @ Orpheum Theatre

4/12 – New York, NY @ United Palace Theatre

4/15 – Philadelphia, PA @ Academy of Music

4/19 – Miami Beach, FL @ The Fillmore Miami Beach at the Jackie Gleason Theater

4/28 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Greek Theatre

5/4 – Stockholm, SE @ Cirkus

5/5 – Copenhagen, DK @ Falconer

5/7 – Berlin, DE @ Tempodrom

5/8 – Hamburg, DE @ Mehr! Theater

5/10 – Amsterdam, NL @ Heineken Music Hall

5/13 – London, UK @ Royal Albert Hall

5/15 – Paris, FR @ Le Grand Rex