When Yellowcard [ tickets ] kicks off its first acoustic tour March 7, the group will be fulfilling a longtime dream of lead singer Ryan Key.

"It's something I've always wanted to do," said Key, who explained that the decision also stemmed from the fact that Yellowcard drummer Longineu W. Parsons III is home in Florida with his family taking a much-needed break. " [We] felt like, 'What a great opportunity to do something we've always wanted to do'--which is get out the acoustic guitars and really do a tour that way. So we've hired a cellist to come in and rehearse with us and learn the songs."

Rounding out the acoustic tour's lineup with Key and the freelance cellist will be Yellowcard [ tickets ] violinist Sean Mackin and guitarist Ryan Mendez. Opening bands include MxPx, Play Radio Play and Treaty of Paris, all of whom will perform plugged in.

"This gives us the opportunity to play a lot of kind of off-the-wall songs," Key said. "We're going to do some really old songs that a lot of the older fans always ask for. Before, we'd have to say, 'You and two other people will be the only people in the room who know that song.' But they'll hear old songs on this tour."

The tour comes on the heels of the release "Live from Las Vegas at the Palms," an iTunes exclusive. The group recorded the set last year while on tour with Blue October to celebrate Yellowcard's eight years on the road.

"They have an incredible studio in the casino," Key said. "We recorded the show the one night and spent the next day waiting around in the hotel for the mixes to be ready. We went in, made comments, and then it was pretty much done in a week or so. It was a really fast process. We never released any kind of live record. We were excited to do it. I think it came out pretty well given the circumstances of how quickly we put it together."

"Live From Las Vegas at the Palms" features five tracks from Yellowcard’s current album, "Paper Walls" (which debuted at No.13 on Billboard’s Top 200 album chart, as well as at No. 3 on iTunes’ album chart), including the lead-off single "Light Up the Sky."

The live album also features Yellowcard’s previous singles "Way Away," "Ocean Avenue" and "Only One," all from the band’s double-platinum 2003 Capitol Records’ debut "Ocean Avenue," as well as the songs "Lights and Sounds" and "Rough Landing, Holly," from their 2006 gold album "Lights and Sounds."