Guitarist Wareham, drummer Damon Krukowski and bassist Naomi Yang began playing together as Galaxie 500 in 1987, after their time as students at Harvard University. The band's name comes from a Ford car of the 1960s, the Ford Galaxie 500. Galaxie 500's records were released in the US and UK on the independent Rough Trade label and went out of print upon Rough Trade's demise. Galaxie 500's entire catalog, along with a box set including singles, EPs and rarities was reissued during the 1990s by Rykodisc.

Galaxie 500 leveraged fairly minimal instrumental technique with intense atmospherics, provided by producer Mark Kramer, and their distinctive sound bore an influence beyond the small audience for their independently released albums. The sound and the increasingly loyal audience grew with each release until Wareham quit the band in 1991. To mark twenty years since the release of the Galaxie 500 albums, Wareham embarked on his Dean Wareham Plays Galaxie 500 tour.

Galaxie 500 might have lasted only briefly, but their influence casts a long shadow through indie music. Now singer/guitarist/songwriter Dean Wareham is playing the old songs on this special tour, joined by his wife (and former Luna bandmate) Britta Phillips on bass and St Vincent's drummer of choice, Anthony Lamarca.