Toad the Wet Sprocket [ tickets ], which returned to action in 2002 after a five-year hiatus, will visit two dozen cities on a tour that gets underway in February.

The jaunt focuses on major markets, and is booked in theaters and large halls. Bleu, a Boston-based alt-rock act, will open on all dates. Alice Peacock also supports on the tour's first eight stops, with Wheat taking over their slot for the remainder of the tour.

Toad returned to the stage on Dec. 4, when the quartet played the Rape Crisis Benefit Concert in its home base of Santa Barbara, Calif. The group followed that show with a December run in support of Counting Crows, and also played a New Year's Eve show in Hollywood.

While Toad was taking a break, frontman Glen Phillips released his 2001 solo album "Abulum." Guitarist Todd Nichols and Randy Gues dedicated their time to a side project dubbed Lapdog. A new Lapdog album dubbed "Mayfly" hit stores in November of 2002.

Toad the Wet Sprocket was among the more successful alternative rock acts of the '90s, thanks mainly to their hits "All I Want," "Walk on the Ocean" and "Fall Down."