Features
Dead Can Dance Reborn
The duo of Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry have been playing shows around Europe since the second week of March and will be bringing DCD to the United States in September. This is the first tour the group has done in nearly a decade.
DCD will finish up the European leg of their tour in London, playing a show at the Barbican Concert Hall and then at the The Forum on April 6 and 7, respectively.
Dates are still being confirmed but the North American tour will likely start in the fall when DCD hits the Paramount Theatre in Seattle for two shows on September 17 and 18.
From there, they will work their way South, playing a number of dates in California and then doing one show in Mexico City at the Auditorio Nacional on September 29. A few dates will follow in Canada and then it’s on to New England.
Dead Can Dance began in 1981 when Perry and Gerrard met in Melbourne, Australia. Shortly thereafter, they moved to London in search of a record contract. They were signed by iconic 4AD Records founder Ivo Watts-Russell in 1983 and released their eponymous debut the following year.
They’re music was quickly associated with modern gothic music like Joy Division and Souxsie and The Banshees but DCD themselves have expressed frustration with occasionally being labeled a “goth band.”
Over their 17 year career, DCD developed a style of music that had as much in common with music of the European Renaissance and the Middle East than that of the nightclubs ’80’s London. They never completely reliquished modern technology but incorporated it into their music – so something like the droning of a hurdy-gurdy over electronic music was hardly foreign to them.
Eventually, Perry moved to Ireland and Gerrard returned to Australia. In 1998 – two years after their last tour – DCD announced their break-up.
During that time, Parry worked on various solo projects. Gerrard, who had previously done work scoring music for the movies, continued composing for a number of films, including 2000’s Gladiator, for which she received a Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination.
DCD are documenting the current tour through Europe. Each show is being recorded and the live CDs are released in limited quantities of 500 per show. No announcement yet as to whether or not the North American dates will be recorded.