The Cars North American Tour Spring 2011 is a set of eleven concerts in the United States and Canada featuring the newly reunited American band The Cars.[1] Announced in April 2011 prior to the release of the band's album Move Like This,[2] the concerts feature material from Move Like This and from the band's 1970s and 80s albums.[3] Singer/guitarist Ric Ocasek, keyboardist Greg Hawkes, guitarist Elliot Easton and drummer David Robinson perform as a quartet; original Cars singer and bassist Benjamin Orr died in 2000.[4] Orr's bass parts are performed by Hawkes on keyboard and bass; the vocals on songs originally sung by Orr ("Just What I Needed", "Let's Go" and "Moving in Stereo") are performed by Ocasek.[3]
The performances and set lists were met with mixed reviews: Hollywood Reporter reviewer Erik Pedersen found Move Like This to be a "surprisingly good" album but described the Hollywood Palladium show as "icy" and unenthusiastic.[3]San Jose Mercury News reviewer Jim Harrington described the band's performance at Oakland's Fox Theater as "incredibly flat and dispassionate", but praised the band's "solid" musicianship.[6]
