Pennsylvania's Live [ tickets ] gives college students a first listen to material that will be featured on its next album with a brief East Coast tour that launches in late March.

The group precedes the East Coast run with a two-night stand at the Caesar's resort in Lake Tahoe, Nev., at the end of February. The eastern outing then gets underway with a March 22 performance at Universal Studios in Orlando, Fla., and subsequent dates are booked at colleges throughout the Northeast.

The tour precedes the release of Live's as-yet-untitled sixth album, which the group is putting the finishing touches on with producer Jim Wirt (Alien Ant Farm, Incubus).

"It's back to basics for Live," frontman Ed Kowalczyk said of the album in a recent video message recorded at a Santa Monica, Calif., recording studio and posted at the group's official website. "There's no keyboards on it, OK?" he added while giving a thumbs-up sign. "It's just really back to rock and roll, man. It's back to the big guitars, and I really think that this is the finest crafted record we've ever done."

Kowalczyk said that the group will begin mixing the album soon, and plans to release it in May or June. A full-fledged summer tour will follow.