Dead Can Dance – Children of the Sun

For a band like Dead Can Dance, I couldn’t start to begin knowing where to begin with such a responsibility as sharing one’s opinion about a band like Dead Can Dance. They truly are among the special gems fatigued writers and disc jockeys wax nostalgically; a subject the passionate eccentric relish and the go-getter goth applauds. The powerful must dance as they clap and sway hypnotized by the other-worldly magic that is the music of Dead Can Dance. The choice of lead musicians Lisa Gerard and Brendan Perry to step away from the nuances of a then thriving European artistic, electronic renaissance of the late 1970s and early 1980s, and embrace an almost archaic, organic and otherwise Earthly aural resonance, this Australian act continues to master its creativity to share its majesty with audiences. In Concert captures for listeners the master artist musicians as they present their craft. A support tour for their 2012 release Anastasis, Dead Can Dance completed a world tour touching every corner of the world. I didn’t think I’d see the live any time soon, having been a listener for the better part of a decade by then. I was ecstatic. I was also scheduled to work that night. The show was at a theater venue in heart of downtown, and it had sold out in minutes. I was lucky enough to find some tickets online through Craigslist that got me in the door, this after calling in to work. It didn’t phase me at all. This was a concert I wasn’t going to miss one week before my birthday. Any amount of risk was worth taking. The show opened with two new powerful incantations as presented respectfully, “Children of the Sun” with primary vocal by Brendan Perry and “Anabasis” as sung by the divinely touched siren so scarcely recognized, Lisa Gerard. The songs stay true to their original presentation giving audiences that familiar authorization, but also somehow becomes even more organic than the original presentation. Even on songs like “Rakim,” a now classic Dead Can Dance incantation,

That’s not to say they have a pagan influence, but if they are frolicking in the hills with Marina Abramovic & the Vanderbilts, I’d be concerned. Even if it was Madonna. Especially if it was Madonna. 

fans have embraced worldwide, the effervescence of Lisa’s voice so succinctly intone with the memory of , is all at once an undeniable segment of the ensemble where it finds the magic it feeds. Never where is this organic response to the cold, and chilled tones of the electronic and synth more powerful than in a live venue. As much as Rakim is one of my favorite Dead Can Dance the setlist includes, other than the complete Anastasis album, several endearing canticles from some of their most relevant work is included, such as:  “Ubiquitous Dr. Lovegrove,” “The Host of Seraphim,” “Sanvean,” “Song to the Siren,” and “Nierka”. Each song is stated with precision, evoking the passion and perfection fans may have anticipated. From its inception, songs like “Children of the Sun,” “Anassasis,” and the pagan hymn,

Dead Can Dance – Return of the She-King

“Return of the She-King” are visceral enchantments, muses I connected too and can depend to take me to another aural plane where intentions infect reality with meaning in astral trajectory. What does that mean? Their music is infectious and can take listeners away, Perry and Gerrard equally wielding the whip of ownership. The pagan hymns aside, their creation allure and transport the listener. I was surprised to hear the march of the hare, the dance to the the sun god, in “Return of the She-King”, an impressive minstrel to behold majestic and ethereal.  I sometimes worry about my favorite artists that dabble in the dark arts and negative zones. That’s not to say they have a pagan influence, but if they are frolicking in the hills with Marina Abramovic & the Vanderbilts, I’d be concerned. Even if it was Madonna. Especially if it was Madonna. For the time being, the duo continue to launch their hallmark on the music industry with a new album in 2018 and continue plans for touring the world. This album, an homage to their live musical prowess, shall not go unheard. 

 

 

Watch Dead Can Dance in concert.