It may come as a surprise to some, but legendary Paisley Underground stalwarts, the Dream Syndicate have been on active duty for the last decade or so. Initially reformed to play live, they’ve released no fewer than 4 varied, adventurous albums since 2017.
Although this tour was billed as the 40th anniversary of ‘Days and Wine and Roses’ the shows actually included two sets with no support. Whilst the main event was undoubtedly the start to finish run-through of the debut in the second set, I was looking forward just as much to the initial set which was to be based around their post-reformation records.
‘Bullet Holes’ from ‘These Times’ was the set-opener all tour and an appropriate choice as it’s one of the songs that pointed the band in the direction that led to their current record. Easing the band into the show it led into an explosive ‘Out Of My Head’ its relentless circular riff proving that the band have lost none of their vitality.
Most of the initial set was drawn from either current album ‘Urban Battle Hymns and True Confessions’ or 2017’s comeback ‘How Did I Find Myself Here?’, but there was a surprise dip into the back catalogue midway through the set with the fan-pleasing ‘Burn’, from ‘The Medicine Show’. Thereafter the trilogy of ‘Every Time I Come Around’, ‘Hard To Say Goodbye’ and ‘Trying To Get Over’ from the current record picked things up nicely, setting the scene for a magnificent finale to the opening set.
‘How Did I Find Myself Here’, the song, has evolved somewhat from its original incarnation. It’s still powered by the rhythm section of Dennis Duck and Mark Walton but whereas previously there was space in the song which the guitars worked around, this version was dominated by the twin guitars of Jason Victor and Steve Wynn, presumably to substitute for the absent Chris Cacavas’s keyboards. The set then closed with a transcendent version of ‘Glide’, one of their very finest songs of either era.
After a short break the band returned to play the debut. Other than an intro from Steve for each of the two sides, there was no chat between songs and the songs themselves (with one notable exception) were played fairly faithfully compared to the recorded versions.
Some like a crunching ‘That’s What You Always Say’ and the blistering title track, are regulars in the live set and deservedly so. The extended ‘Halloween’, including an explicit lift from ‘Marquee Moon’, has also been played every time I’ve seen them with Steve taking the lead on this version.
But, of the less often featured songs, a visceral ‘Then She Remembers’ and ‘Too Little, Too Late’, (something of a break from the sonic assault of the rest of the set) were highlights with the latter sung by Steve in the absence of a guest singer.
The striking thing for me was that there were always a couple of songs on the record which I didn’t think quite stood up to the rest but that was definitely not the case live.
Everyone was happy with such a dynamic set and the end of ‘Days of Wine and Roses’ had the Belgian audience baying for more.
The encore opened with ‘Still Holding On To You’, before a euphoric ‘Boston’ rounded things off. But weirdly, the Belgians who had been so enthusiastic not 15 minutes previously, politely accepted that that was the end of the show.
Another encore would have been nice but it wasn’t essential as the whole show was pretty much perfect, the sound allowing the vocals to be heard clearly throughout without losing any of the energy.
An unexpected bonus on the night, given that UK dates are rare, was discovering when checking my phone during the interval that the band were in the process of announcing a UK tour for March. The run of eight shows (see poster below) includes their first ever Scottish date at the Hug & Pint in Glasgow on Saturday 11th.
For anyone that’s a fan of American independent rock, that show should be genuinely unmissable.
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