New Orleans-based jazz/funk band Galactic [ tickets ] will take a winding path through the US West and Southwest in February as the group marches back toward its home city just in time for Mardi Gras.

The band's Coup De Gras tour will kick off with a Feb. 8 show in Tempe, AZ. Big Chief Monk Boudreaux will open the first four dates, and Galactic plans a number of special New Orleans-themed opening acts as support along the rest of the tour.

The band's Feb. 18 show in Denver will feature four openers: guitarist Leo Nocentelli of The Meters, Big Chief Bo Dollis and the Wild Magnolia Mardi Gras Indians, Teedy Boutte, and the Rebirth Brass Band are all scheduled to make appearances.

Upon return to New Orleans, special guests The New Orleans Klezmer All Stars will open the band's Feb. 27 show, helping Galactic keep their tradition of playing until sunrise on Fat Tuesday for the Mardi Gras festival's grand finale.

Galactic--guitarist Jeff Raines, bassist Robert Mercurio, saxophonist Ben Ellman, keyboardist Rich Vogel and drummer Stanton Moore--formed in the mid-'90s. The band describes its sound as "jazz-funk-rock fusion ... informed by ongoing influence from a wide range of genres, including hip-hop, blues, pop and electronica."

Galactic's most recent studio album is 2003's "Ruckus." The group plans to begin work soon on a follow-up, according to its publicist.