Stephin Merritt and the Magnetic Fields will lead a two-week residency at MASS MoCA in North Adams, Massachusetts, that culminates in the world premiere of a staged performance of the forthcoming Nonesuch Records album 50 Song Memoir, an album celebrating Merritt's first half-century on the planet. Merritt and band perform two distinct programs of new songs—one for every year of his life—with a seven-person band playing 50 instruments from his eclectic collection. The show recounts his five decades on planet Earth, from his conception by hippies on a houseboat in St. Thomas to his current position as one of America's greatest living songwriters. The world premiere performance takes place in the Hunter Center at MASS MoCA, during which the entire album will be played over two nights: Songs 1–25 on Friday, November 18, and songs 26–50 on Saturday, November 19. Tickets are available at massmoca.org.

At MASS MoCA, the Magnetic Fields' two-day performance kicks off the band's 2016–2017 tour. These shows, which promise to touch on everything from bedbugs to Buddhism, feature the entirety of the upcoming album, 50 Song Memoir, to be released next year. Following its residency and world premiere in North Adams, the Magnetic Fields will travel to the Brooklyn Academy of Music on December 2 and 3, 2016; Royce Hall in Los Angeles on April 27 and 28, 2017; and Moore Theatre in Seattle on May 6 and 7. For all the latest, visit nonesuch.com/on-tour.

The Magnetic Fields made its Nonesuch Records album debut with the release of i in 2004, followed by Distortion (2008) and Realism (2010). Stephin Merritt's Pieces of April soundtrack (2003) and Showtunes album (2006) were release on Nonesuch, as was Merritt's Lemony Snicket collaboration on The Gothic Archies' The Tragic Treasury (2006).