Dead Can Dance play Beirut, a passage in time, all in good time
Interview with Brendan Perry
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It took me a couple of days to “compose” this article out of the myriad
experiences that Dead Can Dance’s September 16th performance left me
with.
For many, the distinct cross-cultural and timeless pieces
were the main attraction. To others, it may have been the hype of a band
whose members’ names stand on the same pillar of international film
score composers such as Hans Zimmer [Gladiator], Michael Stearns
[Baraka] and Patrick Cassidy [The Passion of the Christ].
For me however, it was a different story altogether.
The
sense of escapism encapsulated in those few hours during the concert was
the supplement to a much-needed “vacation”. Away from the country’s
problems, away from death, destruction, gnawing economic hurdles,
corrupt politicians, and collective anxiety stood two hours of sheer
magnificence. Everything else stopped for a moment in time, as the
voices of Brendan Perry and Lisa Gerrard echoed vastly through the
ancient ruins of the Roman Amphitheater in Zouk Mosbeh.
It mattered not to the musical duo and fellow band members that the
performance was not a full house-- with Pope Benedict’s three-day visit
to the country taking center stage. Coming all the way to Lebanon to
play for a “smaller” crowd, also didn’t matter; they showed utmost
respect to their audience here as they would elsewhere.
Dead Can Dance arrived early in the day to the venue, undergoing
tedious sound checks and even rehearsing in hopes of getting it “just
right,” according to one of the organizers at the scene. “Stay till the
end of the show and you will be mesmerized,” he continued, unaware that I
had obtained a backstage pass from non-other than the man himself--
Brendan Perry-- who, with Lisa Gerrard, formed the band in Melbourne,
Australia in 1981, releasing seven studio albums and one live album
before parting ways after 1996’s Spiritchaser.
I arrived an hour or so before the show, anxious but happy, already in a
state of mesmerism. It wasn’t long after that the band took to the
stage, amid thunderous claps and screaming fans – and on the show
commenced with “Children of the Sun” the new album’s ‘welcome to the
show’ song, as per Perry. “The lyrics address human evolution and how
our genetic code is infused with ancient memory, right up to the
present, celebrating nature – the Woodstock generation’s legacy.” More
than appropriate I’d say, given that the band had been expressing
anticipation to play the Zouk Amphitheatre since announcing their Beirut
Leg.
Sitting in the front row I was able to
observe both the band’s facial expressions as well as the audience’s
reaction behind me. Many were purely in awe.
You see, for most of
the handful of fans in Lebanon, Dead Can Dance have only been a distant
apparition, a disbanded duo that had not released an album for 16 years
and one that would never consider playing Lebanon! At least that was my
assumption.
The band played through a repertoire of
songs, mostly from their new album “Anastasis”, the Greek word for
‘resurrection’. However, the crowd was not truly resurrected until
Lisa’s voice echoed across the pillars of the stage with a haunting
sound that Lebanese people have become all too familiar and comfortable
with; the sound of demise. People wiped tears from their eyes before
giving a standing ovation following the end of Gerrard’s performance of
“The Host of Seraphim”.
And then came the surprise tribute on the part of Perry, singing a
rendition of the folkloric muwashshah “Lamma Badda Yatathanna,”* albeit
in echolalia. I found myself swaying one arm to the music, as my
forefathers would during an oriental
tarrab session.
All I kept thinking of was how fitting
the music was to the scene, with spirits of past kings and queens
sitting exactly where we were thousands of years ago. They would have
been listening to something similar to this music, and to me this is
what Dead Can Dance is all about; fusing old with new, and topping it
with a great dose of regality.
The band’s finale song was “All In Good
Time”, underlining the old adage that “good things come to those who
wait”. And they did. At the end of
their set, the band caught the inexperienced audience by surprise, with
Perry simply saying, “Thank you. We’re done.” Many walked out, but the
earnest remained, demanding more. And more they got, with the band
reappearing to play an encore for a smaller, more devout crowd.
And the audience’s end was my beginning; a backstage interview followed by drinks in the hotel lobby with Brendan Perry.
Interview Highlights
Upon
arriving to the hotel, Perry welcomed me and my companion as a friend
would, by standing and offering us drinks, then walking away and
grabbing extra chairs. An aura of humbleness surrounds the man of Irish descent, who
speaks to a person he’s met for the first time with curiosity,
gentleness and keen interest.
On visiting Lebanon for the first time
“We got here on
Saturday and were taken to dinner. We were expecting to experience some
nice, authentic Lebanese cuisine, but were taken instead to the Buddha
Bar. If we wanted to go to a Parisian bar we could do that in Paris. We
did manage to go to a nice Lebanese restaurant next to our hotel in
Raouche today, the food was lovely there. -- I had an auntie who worked
in Beirut in the early 70's and she would always come home with great
memories and hookah pipes. --During our early days in Melbourne, Lisa
and I worked at a Lebanese restaurant and were always fascinated with
the music. The country seems enticing, and we are definitely thinking
about coming back, maybe playing in Baalbeck.”
On war and peace
“Lebanon and Ireland seem to have something
in common, being a small country on the border of a much larger one;
it’s a shame that countries have to suffer waves of violence imposed by
neighboring countries.”
On playing Israel
“We do not recognize Israel as a state, and
are not looking for financial gain as other bands do when they opt for
staging concerts there.”
Nadine Mazloum is currently the editor for LBCI Online English News. She received her Honors in Communication Arts (Media Production) from The University of Western Sydney in 2008.
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To view a segment of the concert, please watch the video above