Orange Pop
The band dada loves to perform at San Juan Capistrano’s Coach House

When Joie Calio and Michael Gurley took the stage for the first time together, opening for Mary’s Danish at the Coach House in 1991, little did they know what the future held for dada.

The band – completed several months later with the addition of drummer Phil Leavitt, and which has never boasted any other lineup – has developed one of rock’s most passionate followings.

Phil, Joie & Michael of dada

And the fact that it took a hiatus from June 1999 until March 2003 despite never officially breaking up only seemed to enhance its well-deserved reputation. In addition, “dada Live: Official Bootleg, Vol. 1″ (recorded live at the Galaxy Concert Theatre in Santa Ana last July), was released by Orange County’s Coach House Records and marked dada’s first new commercial release in five years. Saturday night, dada will come full circle when it records material at the Coach House for its second official bootleg CD.

So, while the band will undoubtedly feature classics such as “Dim,” “Dizz Knee Land” and “Ask the Dust,” look for new songs from its recently released album, “How to Be Found.”

“There is no other show for us like the Coach House; it has all the emotions of being the first show,” said Calio in a recent phone interview from Jacksonville, Fla., in the midst of a lengthy tour that includes more than a dozen states this month.

“We were never that big in California, but we’ve done really well at the Coach House, and it’s funny because it’s in the middle of nowhere. It’s a very good synergy between us as a band and the Coach House as a venue.”

For fans who have seen the band’s shows outside Orange County, such as at the tour kickoff at the Whiskey in Hollywood in February, it’s clear the band usually performs before audiences that stand. The Coach House doubles as a restaurant and is a challenge for a band that depends on crowd feedback.

“There are honestly challenges within that for a band because when people are sitting down there is a little less energy in the room. … But at that place (Coach House) we’ve figured a way to get around that. We walk out on the tables once in awhile; the crowd there gets up on its feet and cheers. The crowd there is just fantastic. Yeah, we really do like playing that place.”

Audiences catching dada this Saturday will get to see something unique in modern rock; musicians who display equal measures of skill as songwriters, virtuoso musicians and singers capable of dazzling with harmonies that recall the magic of the Beatles.

“From the very beginning our attitude was, we’re two lead singers who are going to sing harmonies. “Let’s make them a little bit more complicated or at least a little bit more left of center,” Calio said.

“A lot of what you’re hearing is something where we got lucky. There is something about the sound of Mike’s voice with my voice. It can’t be re-created when I sing to myself, and it can’t be re-created when he sings to himself.”

The band has performed some of its most memorable shows in Orange County, including opening for Sting at the Pacific Amphitheatre shortly after the release of its 1992 debut, “Puzzle,” but Calio said the trio always look forward to returning to San Juan Capistrano.

“It’s like an old jacket when we go to that place … you put it on and it’s like, ‘Oh yeah, there’s a reason why I didn’t throw this coat away,’ ” he said. “It always makes me feel good.”

- Robert Kinsler