Dead Can Dance 2012

[El culto]

Well, i can´t chorus the previous opinions when seeing some recent concert videos:

2-DEAD CAN DANCE-Θέατρο Γης-Θεσσαλονίκη -- ΠΡΕΖΑ ΟΤΑΝ ΠΙΕΙΣ - Video Dailymotion

-DEAD CAN DANCE- Θέατρο Γης-21. 09.12-Θεσσαλονίκη

Apart from the question why they had to make a rebirth of the project (money issues?) i do think they damage more of their cult than winning out of it. Wonder why they can´t be simply proud of their past things and leave it.

In a way it reminds of all this "senior rock bands" which believe it´s cool to make a revival  ;D Can´t cope seeing 60+ years of matures with guitars predicting to be young stars. Seems they don´t have good managers or those have other interests as well.

Cheers,
Tomas

[judd stephens]

Tomas (your music is great btw), I think their music is such that it doesn't matter to a huge degree how they look when they play it live.  It's a little different IMO from guys about to turn 70 who are still playing the same rock 'n roll hits from 50 years ago and bouncing around on stage. 

They've both made a lot of relevant music since the 80's and 90's in their respective solo albums, collaborations and so on, so it's hard for me to begrudge them a reunion disc and tour, as this is most likely just that.  You're probably right they're doing this for the same reason every other band from previous decades with previous fame reunites. 

I don't think it'll hurt their cult status though, the fact that they're gonna sell a ton of music and concerts without essentially changing themselves or their sound tells me that.  They'd have to become skinhead nazis (Lisa Gerrard- highly suspect  :P) and sing only Britney Spears covers in order to ruin the nostalgia.

Listening to a few of their new songs on youtube, I'm impressed that the quality is still good- Brendan's range has narrowed a tad but he can still croon, baby, and Lisa Gerrard can basically phone in those angelic notes without much problem.  The songwriting is pretty solid.  I'm not sure how relevant an album it is, in terms of their legacy, but at least they reunited with an actual album of quality music.  It's not bad music, regardless of whether I'd prefer a different direction. 

Tomas I'd agree that if they that just tour and keep singing their old classics indefinitely until there are no more crowds, it would hurt their rep... I just don't see that happening though.  There is one great song so far I've heard which is Children of the Sun.  This could have easily been the last song on the album (it was the first), a fitting and gracious goodbye, I mean that in the best sense.

Dead Can Dance - Children Of The Sun.wmv

[drone on]

DCD are in a class by themselves and little to do with other "rock" bands being fronted by aging rockers.  I doubt they'll ever be doing nostalgia tours in Las Vegas. 

[Mark Mushet]

I saw Brendan solo last year with Robin Guthrie. Very good show all 'round. DCD is another matter for me. I think they still look and sound great and have done some pleasant enough new work to go along with the reunification.

I just find I can't relate to what I have to describe as the early music/ethno/mystic/escapist pastiche that they eventually perfected and polished into the ground. And lyrically (because they foreground it) it can be just silly romantic goop. Nonetheless, I still cherish some of their work.

I liked the '93 version of DCD because Brendan revealed himself as a sincere balladeer with a great voice. Lyrically kind of naive on occasion, but compelling.

But, as with Magazine (who I prefer for their power, wit and continued lyrical relevance) they should continue on for as long as possible because, whatever your view, the world's a better place with them in it!

M

[drone on]

I'd have to agree about DCD (over) "polishing" the early/ethno thing, starting with the album "Aion."  I think the first three albums (DCD, Spleen and Ideal, and Within the Realm of a Dying Sun) are flawless masterpieces.  The Serpent's Egg, although excellent in spots, wasn't up to par with their previous work.  I think after the '93 tour they lost their mystique with so many concerts, videos, etc, and they got sucked into the whole "new age/ethno ambient/world" category by the music industry who had to categorize them. 

The Brendy Perry concert I saw (w/Robin Guthrie) was one of the best concerts I've ever attended in about 35 years of concert going.  The performance and sound were flawless, and it was evident Brendan Perry is just as relevant today as he was in the 80's.  You also can't beat standing two feet from him in front of the stage at the small club (Bimbo's in San Francisco) I saw him perform at, as opposed to these big stadium type deals DCD is doing now like Greek Theatre in Berkeley where you are hundreds of feet away. 

   

[Numina]

I'm a longtime DCD fan and got lucky with a surprise presale for tickets to their show here and ended up with front row seats directly in front of Lisa's dulcimer rig about 4' in front of me.

I'm not good at detailed reviews of concerts or albums but I will say without question the performance was fantastic! They did play the entire new album (I think) which is fine with me as it's the best thing they've done since Serpent's Egg IMO. Lisa's voice is still solid and mesmerizing. Brendan hasn't lost it either. That said, I would have loved to hear some of their earlier works from the first 3 albums but no reason to complain. After the show I managed to snag Lisa's set list - her foot actually touched it. :)

[El culto]

Tomas (your music is great btw), I think their music is such that it doesn't matter to a huge degree how they look when they play it live.  It's a little different IMO from guys about to turn 70 who are still playing the same rock 'n roll hits from 50 years ago and bouncing around on stage. 

They've both made a lot of relevant music since the 80's and 90's in their respective solo albums, collaborations and so on, so it's hard for me to begrudge them a reunion disc and tour, as this is most likely just that.  You're probably right they're doing this for the same reason every other band from previous decades with previous fame reunites. 

I don't think it'll hurt their cult status though, the fact that they're gonna sell a ton of music and concerts without essentially changing themselves or their sound tells me that.  They'd have to become skinhead nazis (Lisa Gerrard- highly suspect  :P) and sing only Britney Spears covers in order to ruin the nostalgia.

Listening to a few of their new songs on youtube, I'm impressed that the quality is still good- Brendan's range has narrowed a tad but he can still croon, baby, and Lisa Gerrard can basically phone in those angelic notes without much problem.  The songwriting is pretty solid.  I'm not sure how relevant an album it is, in terms of their legacy, but at least they reunited with an actual album of quality music.  It's not bad music, regardless of whether I'd prefer a different direction. 

Tomas I'd agree that if they that just tour and keep singing their old classics indefinitely until there are no more crowds, it would hurt their rep... I just don't see that happening though.  There is one great song so far I've heard which is Children of the Sun.  This could have easily been the last song on the album (it was the first), a fitting and gracious goodbye, I mean that in the best sense.

Dead Can Dance - Children Of The Sun.wmv

Yep, i liked the track too and thanks for your words about the music :-)

I have to admit i´m a bit biased here. I saw Lisa perfoming live 2011 in Germany and the show was very disappointing. She changed the dressing 5 times (!!!) during the show and they also used an additional (HUGE) Reverb for her voice in almost each song. Of course this doesn´t really fit as the stage was just a medium theatre place. Also, which was the most annoying issue, one of her musician (keyboard player) was performing with no wires plugged in his synth  :o - so it was mainly a playback show with a fake performance. All of this was not really appreciating for me.

When i saw then one of the videos there is a similar issue...once she pretends to plays the Santuri but no sound....

Cheers,
Tomas