The second Dead Can Dance concert in Oakland was every bit as good as the first.
Saltarello has never sounded better and Dreams Made Flesh stood out as a particularly spirited rendition, as it did the night before. Other personal highlights for me were Rakim and Severance, with its new hurdy-gurdy virtuosity at the end.
Brendan rehashed his jokes from the previous night, which had already been used in Seattle and perhaps even earlier. Time for some new comedic material, perhaps.
I managed to obtain a set-list from this show, so I now know that Lisa’s new song is called Compassion. Yamyinar has made way for this in the set and was also left off the recent Best of the 2005 European Tour CD, so I suspect it has fallen from favour with the band.
The set-list was as follows:
- Nierika
- Saffron
- Compassion
- The Ubiquitous Mr. Lovegrove
- The Love That Cannot Be
- The Lotus Eaters
- Crescent
- Minus Sanctus
- Saltarello
- The Wind That Shakes The Barley
- How Fortunate The Man With None
- Dreams Made Flesh
- I Can See Now
- American Dreaming
- Sanvean
- Rakim
- Black Sun
- Salem’s Lot Aria
- Yulunga
- Severance
After the show, Geoff and I went backstage and hung out with Niall and Simeon, two of the band’s percussionists. A couple more down-to-earth guys you couldn’t wish to meet. Brendan was there, too, but we were so busy talking to the other guys that we didn’t look for an opportunity to grab a moment with him.
Soon afterwards, we adjourned to what is seemingly Oakland’s only open pub after 23:00 and spent a couple of hours there. Shortly after 01:00, Simeon and Niall had to go back to the tour bus for the drive to L.A., so we shook hands and arranged to try to meet up in Hollywood on Sunday.
As Sunday nears, my anticipation of the Hollywood Bowl concert is mounting. It’s going to be a real treat to see and hear the band be accompanied by a 45 person orchestra; something really special and unique and even more of a night to remember than the two so far in Oakland. As usual, my expectations are high.