The Decemberists [ tickets ], who canceled their fall tour due to illness, are scheduled to return to the stage with a few shows in late January.

The experimental pop group has booked two-night stands at The Moore Theatre in Seattle and the Crystal Ballroom in Portland, OR. Details are listed below.

"We know this may be a small consolation to those of you outside of Portland and Seattle that had tickets to the fall tour, but the band has rested up, and was excited to play some dates close to home," The Decemberists said in a statement. "These shows will be neither Longs nor Shorts, just good ol' fashioned Decemberists shows."

The band was to play at least two shows in each city on the canceled "Long and Short of It Tour," alternating between The Decemberists' longer, more progressive material and their shorter, pop-oriented compositions. Chicago was the only city to see the performances.

The group continues to support its 2006 major-label debut, "The Crane Wife," as well as its recently released EP, "The Perfect Crime #2," which features remixes of the title track by A Touch of Class, Diplo and Junior Boys.

The Decemberists took their music to a new level this summer, performing in front of full orchestras across the US. In a recent interview with LiveDaily, bassist Nate Query said the experience was an exciting opportunity to do something different.

"When you're touring all the time, you can kind of get sick of your own band to a certain extent," Query explained, adding that playing with the orchestra "was a really neat opportunity but was also a lot of work" and "kind of stressful."

The orchestrated version of the band got to perform for a different kind of audience, like the one at Atlanta's Chastain Park.

"We were playing at, like, 7 p.m., and people had their picnics--bread and cheese and olives and white wine," Query remembered. "It was a very different crowd than you get at the nightclub."

He added that while going out with a full orchestra is a possibility for the future, there are no plans to do so anytime soon.

Meanwhile, Query said The Decemberists have a new batch of songs to work on, but they're not rushing into the studio just yet.