Kerb Crawler
Closed Fist of the Badlands
Dead Can Dance w/ L.A. Philharmonic, Live at the Hollywood Bowl, 9-25-05
“The more I see
The more life means to me.â€
– as sung by Brendan Perry, Sept. 25th, 2005
The venue was packed; we had great seats, and I had the good fortune of being exactly (“exactly†being an approximation, of course) in the center of it all.
The opening band was Nouvelle Vague, a French band that specialized in covering old “new wave†and “modern rock†tracks from the 80’s.
Their set list was as if they had raided my personal CD library and picked some of the best tunes to distort and deconstruct to their own nefarious aural performance and pleasure.
They started out by covering the Cure’s “A Forestâ€, moved to Depeche Mode’s “Just Can’t Get Enough†(both garnering much applause) and went on from there, including a playful cover of XTC’s “Making Plans for Nigel†and a rousing, stumbling, version of the Dead Kennedy’s “Too Drunk to Fuck.â€
Towards the end, a chill went through my body as they lit up an atmospheric rendition of Bauhaus’ “Bela Lugosi’s Deadâ€, and they closed their set with a beautiful version of Joy Division’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart Againâ€, bringing a feminine tenderness to Ian Curtis’ pained lyrics.
***
The L.A. Philharmonic set up quickly enough, and, soon, Dead Can Dance took the stage to thunderous applause and jumped into an animated performance of “Nierikaâ€, the first track from their final album, “Spiritchaser.â€
I don’t recall the exact set list, but they played “Cantara,†“Desert Song,†“How Fortunate the Man With None,†“Sanvean,†“Saltarelloâ€, “Dreams Made Fleshâ€, “the Ubiquitous Mr. Lovegrove“, Brendan’s “I Can See Now/ American Dreaming†(after teasing us, while holding his acoustic guitar, “Who wants to hear some country music? Well, let’s git to it then!†Also “American Dreaming†had alternate lyrics, probably, to reflect his current non-American love) and, much to my surprise, “The Lotus Eaters†which (according to liner notes from the DCD box set) was the only completed song from the abandoned Quivvy Church sessions to record a follow-up album to Spiritchaser before Dead Can Dance “broke up†in the late ‘90’s.
There were a few songs that were new to me, or that I didn’t recognize, but a little research into set lists for some of their recent concerts leads me to believe they may have consisted of some or all of the following:
â€Saffronâ€
â€Yamyinarâ€
â€The Love That Cannot Be†(If this is the one I think it was, I absolutely LOVED this song)
â€Crescentâ€
â€Minus Sanctusâ€
â€Salem’s Lot – Ariaâ€
They walked off stage and came back for, not one, but, TWO ENCORES, the first one starting with “Black Sun†(a personal favorite track), and included Lisa Gerrard singing “The Wind That Shakes the Barleyâ€, and then DCD launched into “Rakimâ€, which was awesome, and magnificent.
The second encore started with Brendan singing “Severanceâ€, and then they launched into a kick-ass version of “Yulunga (Spirit Dance)†made all the better by the beauty and depth of the L.A. Philharmonic.
Lisa closed out the show with the new song “Hymn for the Fallenâ€, which was, reputedly, originally written for Russell Crowe to sing.
There were four, giant, close-circuited screens to allow for better glimpses of the band, and Brendan’s voice was (as always) powerful, clear, and resonant, and Lisa’s presence, on-stage, was not unlike some golden-frocked High Priestess, commanding attention to her and yet deflecting it at the same time.
What was extra special about this concert on their American tour was the addition of the L.A. Philharmonic. It’s my understanding that this was the only show, except the upcoming one in New York, where they were backed by a full orchestral accompaniment. (Unfortunately, this concert will not be released for sale on their website, ironically, because of the L.A. Philharmonic’s request for $100,000, or so I’ve read.)
All in all, a wonderful night, full of surprises, good food, fun, and even though there were hundreds (thousands?) of people in attendance, that night, there was only the beauty of the moment to bind us, and the magic of the music to set us free.
And it was all over far too quickly.
I’ll posts pics as soon as I’m able.
“The more I see
The more life means to me.â€
– as sung by Brendan Perry, Sept. 25th, 2005
The venue was packed; we had great seats, and I had the good fortune of being exactly (“exactly†being an approximation, of course) in the center of it all.
The opening band was Nouvelle Vague, a French band that specialized in covering old “new wave†and “modern rock†tracks from the 80’s.
Their set list was as if they had raided my personal CD library and picked some of the best tunes to distort and deconstruct to their own nefarious aural performance and pleasure.
They started out by covering the Cure’s “A Forestâ€, moved to Depeche Mode’s “Just Can’t Get Enough†(both garnering much applause) and went on from there, including a playful cover of XTC’s “Making Plans for Nigel†and a rousing, stumbling, version of the Dead Kennedy’s “Too Drunk to Fuck.â€
Towards the end, a chill went through my body as they lit up an atmospheric rendition of Bauhaus’ “Bela Lugosi’s Deadâ€, and they closed their set with a beautiful version of Joy Division’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart Againâ€, bringing a feminine tenderness to Ian Curtis’ pained lyrics.
***
The L.A. Philharmonic set up quickly enough, and, soon, Dead Can Dance took the stage to thunderous applause and jumped into an animated performance of “Nierikaâ€, the first track from their final album, “Spiritchaser.â€
I don’t recall the exact set list, but they played “Cantara,†“Desert Song,†“How Fortunate the Man With None,†“Sanvean,†“Saltarelloâ€, “Dreams Made Fleshâ€, “the Ubiquitous Mr. Lovegrove“, Brendan’s “I Can See Now/ American Dreaming†(after teasing us, while holding his acoustic guitar, “Who wants to hear some country music? Well, let’s git to it then!†Also “American Dreaming†had alternate lyrics, probably, to reflect his current non-American love) and, much to my surprise, “The Lotus Eaters†which (according to liner notes from the DCD box set) was the only completed song from the abandoned Quivvy Church sessions to record a follow-up album to Spiritchaser before Dead Can Dance “broke up†in the late ‘90’s.
There were a few songs that were new to me, or that I didn’t recognize, but a little research into set lists for some of their recent concerts leads me to believe they may have consisted of some or all of the following:
â€Saffronâ€
â€Yamyinarâ€
â€The Love That Cannot Be†(If this is the one I think it was, I absolutely LOVED this song)
â€Crescentâ€
â€Minus Sanctusâ€
â€Salem’s Lot – Ariaâ€
They walked off stage and came back for, not one, but, TWO ENCORES, the first one starting with “Black Sun†(a personal favorite track), and included Lisa Gerrard singing “The Wind That Shakes the Barleyâ€, and then DCD launched into “Rakimâ€, which was awesome, and magnificent.
The second encore started with Brendan singing “Severanceâ€, and then they launched into a kick-ass version of “Yulunga (Spirit Dance)†made all the better by the beauty and depth of the L.A. Philharmonic.
Lisa closed out the show with the new song “Hymn for the Fallenâ€, which was, reputedly, originally written for Russell Crowe to sing.
There were four, giant, close-circuited screens to allow for better glimpses of the band, and Brendan’s voice was (as always) powerful, clear, and resonant, and Lisa’s presence, on-stage, was not unlike some golden-frocked High Priestess, commanding attention to her and yet deflecting it at the same time.
What was extra special about this concert on their American tour was the addition of the L.A. Philharmonic. It’s my understanding that this was the only show, except the upcoming one in New York, where they were backed by a full orchestral accompaniment. (Unfortunately, this concert will not be released for sale on their website, ironically, because of the L.A. Philharmonic’s request for $100,000, or so I’ve read.)
All in all, a wonderful night, full of surprises, good food, fun, and even though there were hundreds (thousands?) of people in attendance, that night, there was only the beauty of the moment to bind us, and the magic of the music to set us free.
And it was all over far too quickly.
I’ll posts pics as soon as I’m able.
