Dead Can Dance!

We broke with our tradition of going directly to bed after noon tea-time on Sunday to attend an evening concert at The Hollywood Bowl, where Dead Can Dance performed.

There was a very handy park-n-ride pickup point right near our house, and we caught this bus. It made the trip much more relaxed than it would have been, fighting traffic.

This was our first trip to the Hollywood Bowl, which is a shame since we've lived in the area for about ten years. The complex is a typical Southern California mix of character, function, crowd-flow, and all the typical elements of museum, gift shop, food, beer and wine concessions.

There was a wide variety of demographic groups present - DCD is kinda new-agey, folksy world-music, so we didn't know what to expect. There were everything from kids to retired people, which was cool.

A lot of people around us were sipping champagne from fluted plastic 'glasses', getting their cheese and caviar on. We munched on Fig Newtons and sipped our Coke. From the bottle, like commoners.

We'd packed an assortment of junk foods, soda, and water for the concert, but we were traveling light compared to most patrons. Many people had coolers, pillows, blankets and sitting cushions and full-on three course meals. (Did I mention the Sherpa?)

We were happy with our supplies, but the one thing we were lacking was the sitting cushions. The seating is largely made up of long, unpadded wooden benches, which are nominally comfortable, for the first hour or so. After that first hour, your ass starts to complain loudly and often:

"Hey - this hurts, by the way. Also, Ow. Ow ow ow. How about you stand up for a while? Hey! Ow! Hello?"

All of this while trying to enjoy the concert.

We did enjoy it! DCD is much more my sort of fare than Cindy's, though she enjoyed the introductory act, Nouvelles Vagues more than DCD, I think. They were quirky and coy, and I enjoyed the me me me tug-of-war between the two singers more than the music.

Dead Can Dance is as good as ever - I felt chills run through me during The Wind that Shakes the Barley - Lisa Gerrard's voice is as potent and clear as it ever was.

One big qualification for a quality music group in my book is comparing produced and polished recorded works to live performance. They performed for about two and half hours, counting encore, and sound great live, possibly better than in the studio. Though it's been about ten years since their last tour, they have all the strength and skill they ever had.

I have to wonder if they feel at all uncertain about performing again without a new album. If I were a published writer, and showed up at a book reading only to read from a book I wrote ten years ago, I would feel pretty sheepish. Of course, the crowd didn't seem to mind - I know I didn't.

It was a great concert, and great experience! I never thought Dead Can Dance would tour again, and I never expected to get to see them!