Danish Rockers D-A-D Anniversary Greatest Hits World Tour!

Welcome to the wildest Rock ‘n Roll amusement park! For this special occasion and D-A-D’s first Australian Tour since 1990 they will perform all their Greatest Hits – Sleeping My Day Away, Girl Nation, Jihad, Laugh And 1/2, Bad Craziness, It’s After Dark, I Want What She’s Got and heaps more! D-A-D have continued a schedule of consistent touring performing to thousands of fans. With only a single line up change over twenty years ago, in a career spanning over forty years, the live chemistry of the band is unparalleled!

D-A-D began playing together in the early 1980s in Copenhagen, Denmark, under their original band name Disneyland After Dark. D-A-D released their first EP in 1985 and has now been together for more than twenty years, with only one change in the lineup, as Laust Sonne replaced former drummer Peter Lundholm Jensen in 1999. The band released their twelth album – A Prayer For The Loud in 2019. It was an album everyone had been waiting for since the album DIC.NII.LAN.DAFT.ERD.ARK got released in 2011, and it did not disappoint. It has everything from heavy songs, like Musical Chairs and Time Is A Train, to the ballad A Drug For The Heart, all with the classic D-A-D sound.

When the group made their international breakthrough in 1989, they had to change the band name to D.A.D. to avoid an impending lawsuit from the Walt Disney Company. In 1995, the “spelling” changed to D:A:D, to make it more obvious that it was an abbreviation. Finally in 2000, the band story became one of advanced punctuation as the spelling was changed to the more internet-friendly D-A-D. After a thirty year wait Australia will finally get to witness what European audiences have indulged in for the last three decades. Don’t miss this is a once in a generation tour for Australian fans with a career encompassing setlist! Hi Fi Way speaks to Jacob Binzer (lead guitarist) about the tour).

It must be exciting to get this Australian tour underway today?
It is very exciting, we did play there thirty years ago and now it’s a tour!

How hard has it been to get all the planets lined up to get this tour locked in?
The promoter in Australia asked us if we wanted to go and was willing to take the risk in setting it up. Luckily tickets have been selling and it’s going good. It was a matter of someone taking the initiative to get something set up.

Has there been some pressure from fans to tour Australia?
I wouldn’t call it pressure but people have been writing to us over the years asking us if we could comeback somehow. They have all been very kind people and we appreciate that. We have considered it many times but we never really had an angle but now we do. Now we are coming!

What are you looking forward to most about touring Australia and what have you heard about music fans here?
We are really looking forward to going round Australia at this time of year which is nice and warm. I’m looking forward to meeting people and Australian fans must be in their forties. I expect to see a lot of rock fans looking to have a good time!

Are you focusing on a particular album or playing something from every album?
We play quite a few from No Fuel Left for the Pilgrims as that one made it big in Australia and people want to hear those songs. I think we’ll also play a similar set to what we have doing in Europe. People want the real D-A-D show and we’re going to do that. We’ll play close to two hours.

How hard has the Covid years been for the band that is a touring band?
It has been hard not being able to work and make any money. We are able to do some shows with restricted numbers up to three to five hundred seated. At least we could play a little bit, it was tough though. What was weird was that you could not play any shows or plan anything or know when it will be over. Everything stopped, the creativity stopped as well. It was a really weird feeling with nothing happening for two years.

Does the creativity come from being on the road?
A lot of creativity, at least for my part, comes from being able to visualise something and having a vision about what you want to do. Then you start thinking creatively but when you can’t plan anything, plan a tour or a certain show or even rehearsing together because everyone was scared they were going to get it. The fact you couldn’t plan anything that takes everything from you.

Was it a great feeling when touring started up again?
I remember in September 2021 we could play a couple of festivals and that was a huge relief because then you could feel how it was meant to be with people coming together and see what it is all about. Covid made you appreciate even more being able to play shows.

Are there plans for a new album and is the band feeling creatively inspired?
We are currently writing and the plan is to make a mini album and get it out next year because we thought we would try and get something out sooner. The writing has been happening in between tours.

Do you think there will be a subtle shift in the band’s sound?
It won’t change dramatically, if you listen to the records over the years it has been really varied and it might turn out in many different ways. It won’t change dramatically as well always end up like something like ourselves no matter what we do or how hard we try.

Are there any bands you look up to?
I always come back to Van Halen and never stop listening to them especially the early years. The way that Eddie Van Halen played guitar, the energy and style, feel and sound, you don’t have to sound like him but his approach is an inspiration to me and he is the master. A hundred years from now he’ll still be the one and remember in the same way as Beethoven.

Are there any plans for 2023?
We pretty much have two years of touring scheduled already, playing festivals around Europe. We’ll release this mini album and tour it. In 2024 it will be our fortieth anniversary of D-A-D and there will be a lot of celebrating. There will also be an exhibition at the Danish National Museum about D-A-D, yeah they are putting us in a museum which is exciting!

Interview By Rob Lyon

Catch D-A-D on the following dates, tickets from Metropolis Touring