DEAD CAN DANCE

Summer solstice, to celebrate with DEAD CAN DANCE at lovely • Amphitheater • Gelsenkirchen, Germany. This is an offer definitely to die for. Yes, I have to confess, seeing DEAD CAN DANCE more often than Bolt Thrower these days surely narrows the uniqueness of their shows a bit. This also reflects on ticket sales. While the tour in 2005 was sold out within hours and 2012 within 5 days (the venue I attended), one could still purchase tickets for tonight’s show. Looking around during the show and seeing all these empty places speaks volume. As for that I saw the Amphitheater for the first time with seats… odd ;)

:: pics ::

Such open air event in such ambience of course promises an incredible enchantment but also holds its peril, and this is called “weather”. After an extremely hot 3-days-summer the inevitable thunderstorms followed. Yesterday. Today weather calmed down, temperatures too but such cold front of course entails a lot of rainy clouds, which luckily steered clear of the theater. Besides, we (the press people) got wonderful places, close to the stage and under its roof. A huge thank you for this goes out to the concert agency • Schoneberg • :)

So, let the ceremony begin. Without any further announcement :: DAVID KUCKHERMANN :: opened the evening. It was not surprising to me, he did so during last year’s tour too since he is one of the live musicians for Dead Can Dance. He just caught me on the wrong foot as I thought the show would start at 8pm (he kicked of at 7.15pm). Anyway, once more DAVID KUCKHERMANN played a few tracks on his enchantingly sounding hangs and handpans (would love to own such piece) and a special kind of oriental tambourine. And once more I was extremely fascinated how many melodies and sounds someone with nimble hands can play on an instrument with only 8 tunes. Truly amazing!

Change-over. A sparkling wine for me and expectant silence around, while the Amphitheater fills up. That might be the reason why it took a little bit longer. But finally frenetic applause bursts out and :: DEAD CAN DANCE :: enter the stage, getting in with Children Of The Sun from the new album Anastasis. As expected the setlist has not changed that much but though, from the very first moment on, I got in this special mood, when dignity, awe and emotion catches you. Goose bumps all over. This music, especially the older tracks, plucks my heartstrings. Brendan Perry dedicated The Host Of Seraphim to the band’s late tour manager and got standing ovations for that.
From a visual point of view the audience did not get much to witness. Due to the weather forecasts there were no curtains or backdrops at all, so lights had no effect either. As for that Lisa Gerrard was smiling even more, competing with the short moments when the sun was breaking through the clouds. And a little later we could witness the midsummer full moon rising behind the band and stage. Just beautiful.
I especially would like to mention the fantastic clear and differentiated sound. Unbelievable! It almost had CD quality. Really. Oh, and even if the uniqueness of the band fades (nah not really) I would love to see them again and again, thrice a year if possible ;) What a wonderful evening! *sighs*
Setlist: Children Of The Sun, Agape, Rakim, Kiko, Amnesia, Sanvean, Black Sun, Nierika, Opium, The Host Of Seraphim, Ime Prezakias, Cantara, All In Good Time // The Ubiquitous Mr. Lovegrove, Dreams Made Flesh (This Mortal Coil cover), Song To The Siren (Tim Buckley cover), Return Of The She-King