Florence And The Machine: In Your Town

Britain’s greatly hyped Florence Welch — a.k.a Florence and the Machine — hits our shores for her biggest North American shows to date, starting on the East Coast on Monday and ending the run of shows at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival on April 18.

Florence’s critically-acclaimed debut album, Lungs — appropriately titled for the world’s introduction to her powerful pipes — was in the Top 40 in the UK for seven straight months, including a stint in the Number 1 spot, and is currently at the top of the Billboard Heatseekers Album chart in the U.S. The album also snagged the Brit Award for Best British Album this year — an impressive achievement, especially for a newcomer.

Hailed as her generation’s Kate Bush, the 23-year-old South Londoner has a knack for blurring genres, perfectly delivering both the dark and light, and her songs suggest she’s wise far beyond her years. “I can’t stay in one place so I had to create my own genre,” she has said. “The whole album is about love — and pain. People see my lyrics as crazy, but to me it’s an honest, heartfelt album. I didn’t set out to be wacky. I just want it to be emotive.”

A former art student and fan of the Velvet Underground, Florence loves playing up the visual side of performance, and wearing funky vintage finds on stage has become something of a trademark along with her fiery mane.

And though her success has brought with it a rather grueling schedule, for Florence it’s a labor of love. “It’s exciting,” she said recently. “I wouldn’t be working so hard if people didn’t want to see me.”

Florence and The Machine on tour:

4/5         Philly @ Theatre of Living Arts

4/6         DC @ 9:30 Club

4/7         Boston @ Paradise Rock Club

4/9         NYC @ Terminal 5

4/10        Toronto @ Phoenix Concert Theatre

4/12        Chicago @ House of Blues

4/14        Vancouver @ Commodore Ballroom

4/15        Seattle @ Showbox at the Market

4/17        San Francisco @ Mezzanine

4/18        Indio, CA @ Coachella