How many times have you noted with some initial excitement that a band you used to love, after a long absence from touring and releasing albums, is going to be appearing at a local club? How many times have you said to yourself, “Wow, I always wondered what happened to those guys, maybe I should go see them”? And, how many times have you said “No. The last time I did that, it wasn’t even the same lineup, and I was really disappointed”?
Sometimes it pays to take a chance. L.A.’s dada burst on the indie music scene in 1992 with their debut release, the critically-acclaimed Puzzle, on I.R.S. The album sold over half a million and spun off three singles, including the catchy “Dizz Knee Land,” which found heavy indy and mainstream rock rotation for months. After dada did three albums on I.R.S. through 1996, the label cratered. dada moved to MCA Records and released one album in 1997. When MCA’s parent company, Seagrams, was bought by Vivendi in 1999, dada was on the street again, playing their last set in June, 1999.
At that point, the band, Phil Leavitt on drums, Joie Calio, bass and vocals, and Michael Gurley, guitar god (and master of wah-wah), went on what they have called a “self-imposed hiatus,” and dropped off the radar. Phil and Michael formed a band and made an album. Joie moved to Seattle, became an A&R guy, made an album and wrote a book. Phil plays with “The Blue Man Group.” Michael has a jazz trio. All well and good, but this side stuff wasn’t providing dada fans what they needed. And, based on their show at the House of Blues, it wasn’t providing the band what they needed either.
With the beginning of 2003, it was just time to get back to it. In their first show in 3 1/2 years, dada took the stage at West Hollywood’s House of Blues on a school night, Thursday, March 13. To say that their return was triumphant and emotional would be an understatement. From the first notes of “Dim,” the crowd was energized and hypnotized. This wasn’t just a reunion of the band, it was the band’s reunion with the fans.
The sound — often described by the ultimate rock critic copout, “college rock” — should not be pigeonholed. dada moves from ballads to hard rock to psychedelia with a facility that resists a label. These guys are storytellers. Ripping through a 16-song set that relied most on the first two albums (Puzzle and American Highway Flower), the band showed no rust from the layoff, thrilling the hungry crowd with Michael’s guitar virtuosity on “Dim,” “Dorina” and “Dizz Knee Land,” the hard pop of “Poster,” the smoky hypnosis of “Ask the Dust,” and the brilliant harmonies of “Feet to the Sun,” “Moon” and “Feel Me Don’t You,” the last of which crescendoed with “don’t you fuckin’ TOUCH me.” Especially timely/poignant was was “Dizz Knee Land’s” report that “I just flipped off President George,” which was written over a decade ago for the Herbert Walker guy, but worked even better for Dubya — and the crowd anxiously joined in the salute.
As the boys finished their encore with a mindblowing acid version of “California Dreamin’” and the hard rockin’ “Dorina,” the question could not help but be asked: “Why aren’t these guys famous?” With two new albums promised for 2003, there is an awfully good chance that, if they keep touring, they soon will be.
-John Ashby
Source: www.toneandgroove.com
