10 minute read
MUSIC
China Crisis.
PHOTO: ROY SHUTTLEWORTH
Legacy Lines
After more than 40 years, China Crisis is still fully enjoying the ride.
BY BRIAN BAKER
Although ‘80s synth pop icons China Crisis never broke out in America, they were one of the hottest new wave commodities to emerge from the Liverpool scene. e group earned gold records and charted 10 hit singles in Great Britain and a number of other countries, including their lone top 10 smash, “Wishful inking,” in 1983.
With keyboardist/vocalist Gary Daly and guitarist/vocalist Eddie Lundon as the band’s only constants, China Crisis notched several impressive accomplishments. Two of the biggest were enticing Steely Dan guitarist Walter Becker to produce their third and fth albums (an honor, considering Steely Dan was one of China Crisis’ avowed in uences, along with David Bowie, Brian Eno and Talking Heads) and sharing stages with the likes of Tom Verlaine, Haircut 100 and Simple Minds.
While China Crisis only has seven studio albums to date along with some gaps in their history – ve years between 1989’s Diary of a Hollow Horse and 1994’s Warped by Success, and then another 21 years before their last recorded e ort, 2015’s Autumn in the Neighbourhood – don’t make the mistake of thinking that the band’s current U.S. tour represents a comeback of some sort. e band has rarely been o the road for too long, as evidenced by the ve live albums that have been available over the years, plus they’ve remained on the industry’s radar with no fewer than ve retrospective collections over the past three decades.
Co-founder Daly has a spectacularly sunny perspective on China Crisis’ long run, preferring to look at its legacy rather than its history.
“ e music never dies,” he tells CityBeat from his Liverpool home. “A lot of bands will continue and there will only be one original member and sometimes not even that, and that just tells you the music lives forever. e people who make it don’t, but if you get lucky, your song gets sung forever.”
Daly is fairly certain that China Crisis’ upcoming show at Ludlow Garage is the band’s Cincinnati debut (“I’d remember that name, Cincinnati...people in Europe talk about Cincinnati as a music city.”). He’s certain that fans and rsttimers alike will nd something to love in the band’s presentation.
“It might be, ‘What the hell? What do they even look like now?’” Daly says. “But I think people will be pleasantly surprised when they get to see us in Cincinnati because the music is as spritely and vibrant as it was 40 years ago when we started making it.”
“Technology has helped with that
because absolutely everything now is accessible. It’s fascinating,” he continues. “Drum machine sounds, Roland Jupiter 8 synth sounds, DX7 sounds – we can reproduce them all. I think we actually sound a bit better than we did a while ago because the technology wasn’t great then, and now it’s sharp.”
China Crisis has been a xture on the road for the bulk of its 40-plus year existence, and during that time, the band has played in every conceivable (and sometimes inconceivable) situation, from one-o dates to full scale tours to festivals, in an equally wide-ranging type of venue.
As such, Daly and Lundon (and on this tour, keyboardist/programmer Jack Hymers and saxophonist/percussionist Eric Animan) have perfected the art of molding their setlist and live presentation to match the personality of the venue and audience. And on this current American tour, China Crisis’ set could very well include songs that Daly and Lundon wrote via Zoom during the pandemic.
“It takes us about two hours to get through each evening; we go from the very beginning right up to now,” says Daly. “We play it by ear each night. We turn up at a place where people are eating and drinking and sit down, and we play that set. We turn up at a rock and roll venue, and we play that set. We’re on a stage with a lot of other people, we know how to do that.”
“We’ve just done the Classic Crisis Tour in Britain, which was a theater tour with visuals and a story and we knew exactly what we were doing each night in each venue,” he adds. “It’s not like that when we go to the States and we’re doing 26-odd dates in God knows what kind of venues.”
Given the time that has elapsed since Daly and Lundon rst assembled China Crisis in 1979, it’s natural to wonder what songs from their brief but potent catalog still resonate for the two songwriters. When Daly answers the question, he doesn’t cite speci c songs but rather the range of emotions that accompany each track.
“ e ones I absolutely love, you can hear as young lads, feeling our teens, in love with our girlfriends and loving our lives and our mates, getting a record deal, having all those early successes,” says Daly with a measure of pride. “And I’m not talking about the hit records, but the little obscure album tracks that we play from the rst or second records. And some of the songs from Autumn in the Neighbourhood are great to play because there’s a bit more depth to them and they’re a bit more composed. We’ve obviously learned and developed and grown and some of them are a bit deeper and about actual life events and you can feel that as well.”
After the ve year gap following the tour to support Diary of a Hollow Horse in 1989, the longest time China Crisis has been o the road was during the coronavirus outbreak. ey were in the midst of a particularly hectic schedule, juggling two separate American circuits and a run through Europe, when everything ground to a halt.
“We were heading toward Ireland in March. We were literally on the plane and Eddie was already in Ireland, and he messaged us and said, ‘Go straight to the Aer Lingus desk when you get o the plane and get a ight back to Liverpool. ey’re shutting down Ireland,’” Daly recalls. “We’d heard it all on the news and you’d see the Chinese planes and everybody’s in masks. Ed was saying, “It’s not good,’ and I was like, ‘What are you on about?” When it did kick in, I thought, ‘Maybe a few months, everything will be back.’ It was such a shock.”
As bands increasingly return to the stage, the age range at shows is growing, particularly in the audiences of legacy acts like China Crisis. While Daly has seen a preponderance of slightly older generations at China Crisis gigs as well as shows of all sorts – and he wonders if today’s music fans have largely turned their backs on the live experience – he’s encouraged when he sees younger people.
“You can tell when there’s families coming, and that’s always lovely,” says Daly. “I always tease the kids; ‘Okay, who brought you? Who’s made you come?’ And it’s always, ‘No,we had your tapes on in the car.’ ey’ve grown up with it, and they know it because their mom and dad played it all these times that they remember. It’s a really lovely thing.”
China Crisis plays Ludlow Garage (342 Ludlow Ave., Clifton) at 8:30 p.m. July 8. Info:ludlowgaragecincinnati.com.
SOUND ADVICE
Death Cab for Cutie
PHOTO: JIMMY FONTAINE
Death Cab for Cutie with Illuminati Hotties
July 7 • PromoWest Pavilion at Ovation
Has it really been 25 years since Death Cab for Cutie surfaced out of the Paci c Northwest? President Bill Clinton was beginning his second term and the Internet was not yet pervasive when singer/songwriter Ben Gibbard formed what would become an enduring outlet for his tuneful brand of indie rock marked by lyrics at once self-lacerating and universal. e band’s 10th studio album, Asphalt Meadows, is set to drop Sept. 16, but the guys aren’t waiting to hit the road — an extensive North American tour kicks o with a stop in Cincinnati July 7 and concludes in late October with a pair of shows in their home base of Seattle. e record’s uncommonly terse rst single, “Roman Candles,” opens with a persistent kick drum and driving bass before blossoming into glorious noise pop complete with military-style beats, processed guitar and soaring synths. en there’s Gibbard’s voice, which still sounds like the indie rock version of James Taylor — modest but expressive, yearning but earth-bound.
“‘Roman Candles’ is about the crippling, existential dread that goes hand in hand with living in a nervous city on a dying planet, and that the only way to be in the moment is to let it all go,” the band said in a press release that accompanied the single’s release.
“ e lyrics were cobbled from a couple of di erent songs dealing with my general sense of anxiety; the feeling that the fabric that weaves a functioning society together was crumbling during the pandemic,” Gibbard added in the same release.
Death Cab has played a handful of live shows over the last 10 months, each featuring songs from across the band’s discography, and now they’re enlisting the help of fans to dig out some deep cuts. “With a new tour comes new setlists!” Death Cab wrote in a recent Twitter post. “What older songs do you want to hear on the Asphalt Meadows tour that we haven’t played in a while? … Can’t guarantee we’ll tackle everything, but we’ll read your suggestions & take them into account!”
Death Cab for Cutie performs July 7 at PromoWest Pavilion at Ovation. Doors open at 6 p.m. Illuminati Hotties
Gin Blossoms
PHOTO: FACEBOOK.COM/GINBLOSSOMSAZ
Barenaked Ladies
PHOTO: WARNER MUSIC CANADA
will open the show. ere are no COVID-19 protocols. Info: promowestlive.com. (Jason Gargano)
July 20 • PNC Pavilion
Summer is the time for nostalgia acts, and for good reason. Who doesn’t love reminiscing about good times at the park or the beach while the bands that provided the soundtracks are literally right there? e upcoming show at PNC Pavilion is pretty much made for that. Alt-pop acts Barenaked Ladies, Gin Blossoms and Toad the Wet Sprocket were ubiquitous during the ‘90s and ‘00s, licensing their tunes for countless productions, including “It’s All Been Done” for the original Beverly Hills, 90210, “Til I Hear It from You” for Empire Records and “Good Intentions” for Friends.
None of the bands have become stagnant, either. Barenaked Ladies wrote the theme song for e Big Bang eory, staged a series of ocean cruises and even developed the Ben & Jerry’s ice cream avor “If I Had 1,000,000 Flavours,” named after the group’s fanfavorite song. BNL’s latest album Detour de Force dropped in 2021, delayed – like the tour – by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gin Blossoms also stayed busy with new music and lots of touring. Since a short hiatus in the late ‘90s, the band has recorded three more studio albums, including 2018’s Mixed Reality. Gin Blossoms also hit the road with other ‘90s acts like Everclear and Collective Soul.
Likewise, Toad the Wet Sprocket took a break after nding ‘90s fame but regrouped for a series of small-venue shows before reuniting for good in 2010. Since then, Toad re-recorded their albums while releasing new ones and launching bigger tours with Counting Crows and Smash Mouth. e band’s latest album Starting Now was released in 2021.
To add to the summer vibe at the show, ticketholders for the combo tour – dubbed “Last Summer on Earth,” now in its sixth iteration – will get a beer tasting and a download of a Barenaked Ladies album. Moreover, Xennials, who nally are reaching the age at which a 9 p.m. bedtime sounds luxurious, will appreciate the concert’s early start.
Barenaked Ladies, Gin Blossoms and Toad the Wet Sprocket perform July 20 at PNC Pavilion. Show starts at 6:30 p.m.; doors open at 5 p.m. ere are no COVID-19 protocols. Info: riverbend. org. (Allison Babka)
