|
The Dream Academy only toured once, in January and February of 1991. The 12 date tour was probably just European cities. Geoff Covey was lucky enough to catch them in Egham, Surrey and again in London. Here is his recollections of those nights. Thanks Geoff!
Wonderful to see a fellow afficianado! I had virtually everything of TDA's listed, but lost my whole vinyl collection in a messy end of relationship trauma. Luckily it's mostly on tape... Anyway, first of all I had Capital just playing background on the PC (flash git) while I was reading through this when what should come on but a new dance record sampling the mantra from Life in a Northern Town! Spooky. Now the legendary, only tour. They did a brief, 12 or so date tour in January/February 1991. I broke my neck to get to the first date, which was at Royal Holloway College, Egham, Surrey, from my college in Devon. The night of the concert saw the beginning of the big freeze that year, and I was very lucky to be able to get back to my parents house in Godalming (trains stopped, roads virtually impassable). In my usual ebullient way, I saw the band at the bar before the gig, and went and introduced myself (well, they were my heroes, and I had just navigated 200 miles in a blizzard!) They were all knocked out by my devotion, and Gilbert bought me a beer and invited me backstage afterwards. We chatted about this and that (favourite bands - World Party and Scott Walker were mentioned in dispatches by Nick), and then they went to prepare. No one else seemed to know who they were! After they had gone, a bloke came up to me and told me he was a huge fan (of theirs, not mine) and had recently returned from six months scientific research in Antartica, during which time he had only been allowed to take 10 tapes with him...one of which had been the eponymous debut, and another Remembrance Days. And he came from my hometown too! I've lost touch with him now, but he accompanied me backstage after their magnificent 2 and a half hour set (just everything you would have ever wanted - I sang along to every word, gazing in awe, right at Nick's feet). Backstage smoked puff and ate fruit. Laid back atmosphere - everyone pleased with how it went. Magical stuff. They then went off and played the provinces (the only venue I remember was King Tut's in Glasgow), until the big make or break showcase gig in London (Bloomsbury Theatre). I was invited by Gabriel (he had given me his phone number - his answerphone formed the intro to Gaby Says), and the atmosphere was very different - extremely tense, everyone pre-occupied, nervous. Dave Gilmour was there and was very friendly, label mates Everything But the Girl were there, as was Richard from the Communards and arch hanger on Emma Freud. Gilmour joined them on stage and played during part of the set. The venue was a disaster - seated, and soulless. They had won over an apathetic crod in Egham, but not here. Their nerves betrayed them, and even for a diehard fan like me it was clear this wasn't up to scratch. Their nerves betrayed them. Kate was fantastic, but Nick...well, I think it got to him. There were probably industry bigwigs there that I wasn't aware of. So, that's a brief guide to the tour. Sorry if I've made you puce with envy! Sometimes you meet heroes and illusions are shattered, but with them it was great. Make it easy on yourself Best regards Geoff
|