Reflections of Darkness - Music Magazine - D-A-D

Details: Written by: Katrin Renner; Published: 24 September 2009

Batschkapp, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
21st September 2009
D-A-D, Heaven’s Basement

Formed in the early 1980s, D-A-D was originally known as DISNEYLAND AFTER DARK. In 1985, the Copenhagen based Hard-Rock band released its debut EP. At the latest by recording the very successful long-player `No Fuel left for the Pilgrims´ the musicians attracted a big following and went on a world-wide tour including several concerts in the USA. However, the formation became a thorn in the side of the Walt Disney Company that claimed the band’s name for itself. Therefore, DISNEYLAND AFTER DARK had to be renamed to D-A-D. Up to now, D-A-D has recorded all in all 10 studio albums such as `Riskin´ It All´ (1991), `Everything Glows´ (2000) and `Soft Dogs´ (2002).

Last year, the band released the most recent long-player `Monster Philosophy´ at the label 3R Entertainment which arose from the German formation DIE BÖHSEN ONKELZ. D-A-D is still very popular in Scandinavia, especially in the band member’s home country Denmark. Thus, it isn’t surprising that D-A-D is an annual headliner at the famous Roskilde festival. Right now, Jesper Binzer (vocals, guitar), Stig Pedersen (bass), Jacob Binzer (guitar) and Laust Sonne (drums) are on “Monster Philosophy Tour” through Europe. On 21st September 2009, they spent an evening at the Frankfurt club Batschkapp. http://www.d-a-d.com/ / http://www.myspace.com/dad

It was about 20 minutes past 7 pm when I arrived at the Batschkapp. Firstly, I was the only one waiting at the front doors. By and by, more attendees gathered in front of the small club. Some of them must have already experienced D-A-D in their younger days, as they wore shirts displaying dates of tours long ago. Besides the evening’s headliner, I was looking forward to the support act HEAVEN´S BASEMENT. In July 2009, I had been at a TESLA concert and also saw this young band live on stage. The guys´ performance was very impressive and energizing as well as their songs. Therefore, I had been pleased by the announcement that they would support D-A-D in this year’s September. I found a standing room right in front of the small stage that was pretty over-crowded due to all the instruments that had been almost stacked to save some space. The arriving audience seemed to be a very relaxed one, as many people headed off to the bar at first. Contrary to the situation on stage, there was plenty of space in front of it when HEAVEN´S BASEMENT began to play at 8 pm.

Heaven’s Basement

So far, the year 2009 has been a busy one for Richie (vocals), Jonny (guitar), Sid (guitar), Chris (drums) and Rob (bass): Besides being the support act for TESLA, HEAVEN´S BASEMENT played at the Sonisphere Festival in Knebworth and is on tour with D-A-D and BUCKCHERRY. The young Britains gained a lot of attention by releasing the EP `Heaven’s Basement´ and attracted a respectable number of followers in Europe. http://www.heavensbasement.com/ / http://www.myspace.com/heavensbasementofficial

Music & Performance
I guess that there weren’t that many listeners who had already heard of the guys, as the crowd was reserved in its response when HEAVEN´S BASEMENT entered the stage. Nevertheless, the band was welcomed with friendly applause. Already after the first song `Tear your Heart out´, the hall was heated up and everyone seemed to be very taken with the lively performance. The musicians made the best of the cramped available space: Rolling around on the floor, striking poses, banging the heads, kneeling down and shouting at the top of their lungs, the guys performed to their limits. I haven’t watched many formations like this putting their whole hearts into the show in such a passionate manner. Each and every band member was moving and going wild. The sweaty performance was totally in line with the Glam- and Hard Rock-influenced songs such as `Reign on my Parade´, `Misunderstood´ and `Can’t let go´. At the end of the short set, the thunderous applause proved that HEAVEN´S BASEMENT was able to convince many listeners of its music.

Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 10
Sound: 7
Light: 4
Total: 8.3 / 10

D-A-D

Meanwhile, the hall was well-filled and everybody had finally found a place. The change over was done very fast. Now, the white D-A-D drum set caught the crowd’s attention. As the previous light show had left much to be desired, I hoped for a better illuminated stage and shouldn’t be disappointed.

Music & Performance
Accompanied with a western movie soundtrack-like intro, D-A-D walked on stage. Front man Jesper Binzer came as the last one and started to intonate the first song `True Believer´ from the commercially most successful album `No Fuel left for the Pilgrims´. He and his colleagues radiated a good mood due to their smiling faces and a solid Rock’n’Roll show. I couldn’t take my eyes off the striking equipment, for example a glass-like guitar containing blue patterns. Despite my initial fears, the stage was immersed in bright light offering an opulent feast for the eyes. Naturally, the listeners were waiting for classics such as `Rim of Hell´, `Sleeping my Day away´ or `Jihad´. Singing along and raising the hands, the crowd was beside itself with joy when the band played the awaited stuff. The tracks of the most recent album `Monster Philosophy´ were positively received as well. It was like being on a big party initiated by good old friends.

The musicians interacted as a well-rehearsed team and every member played its part to present an entertaining concert. Coming up with a knack for catchy Hard-Rock melodies and matching outfits, the Danes were good examples for ear and eye candy at the same time. Particularly, bassist Stig Pedersen’s distinctive appearance was an eye-catcher: Wearing a black leather jacket with fringes combined with trousers displaying the lettering “nasty” on his backside, he absolutely embodied the picture-perfect rock star when he was climbing the drum set or striking some poses. The formation’s spring chicken Laust Sonne also showed off his skills as a virtuoso at playing drum solos. Therefore, everyone should have left the venue perfectly satisfied.

Setlist
01. True Believer
02. Beautiful together
03. Jihad
04. Rim of Hell
05. Point of View
06. Everything glows
07. Reconstrucdead
08. Road below me
09. Grow or pay
10. Bad Craziness
11. Chainsaw
12. Monster Philosophy
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13. Laugh´n´a Half
14. Ridin´ with Sue
15. Sleeping my Day away
16. It’s after Dark

Rating
Music: 7
Performance: 9
Sound: 8
Light: 9
Total: 8.1 / 10