KB Hallen has a great history to it - so many world renowned bands and artists have played there over the years. Naturally, it was quite a blow when the placed burned down in 2011, but it finally reopened in December 2018, and here, in April 2019, D-A-D were set to bring some rock back in the building.
A new album is on the way, and the band was out showcasing several new songs, as well as a slew of old favourites. Not God’s, but other stuff.

“Damn it all to hell, dear friends, it’s so good that we’re all here!”
- Jesper Binzer (vocals/guitar)

Visually, D-A-D hadn’t gone quite as bonkers as we’ve seen them in the past. The stage was a simple one, with a plain front, and a platform or bridge going from side to side behind the drums, accessible via ramps in both sides. All this was backed by three large video screens used as backdrop. Mostly they showed the band as they played, with a bit of other images from time to time. A catwalk in the front finished the design, and from there on out, it was up to the band to bring some life into it all.
Well, they did. Both life and rock. D-A-D opened the show with the new song Burning Star, a fast and heavy affair, which had a large star burning on the video screens. An interesting choice, given the newly released images of a black hole.
After this, the band kept the tempo up for the next three songs as well, and we got to enjoy a band that was lit. The sound, likewise, was in surprising quality - it was heavy, crisp, and sounding extraordinarily good. Everything was getting through, it was well-balanced, and it was clear that sound had been given much consideration in the restoration of the building.

“Here’s another new track! You may not know it, but now you can say you heard it before it was a hit!”
- Jesper Binzer (vocals/guitar)

After the kick in the face intro, the band started mixing the tempo and atmosphere up a bit more. Most surprisingly here, was probably when they played the title track of the coming album, a song called A Prayer For The Loud. Given the title, I’d imagined this would be a wild one, much in line with what we’d gotten at the start of the show, but it turned out to be a calm affair, with a bit of funk thrown into the mix. There was an interesting video production in the back, showing among other things, a stained glass version of Molly, the mascot, and later, Molly nailed to a crucifix, with her horns transformed into arms and hands at the ends.
The Sky Is Made Of Blues was a calm to mid-tempo rock n’ roll’er, which funnily enough reminded me more of Jesper Binzer’s solo work - funnily because when I first heard the solo work, I didn’t think it differed all that much from what he was doing in D-A-D. I guess you could call this coming full circle, if you’d like.
Nothing Ever Changes also stuck out for me, but mostly because of the very classic black & white Disney like video they were running on the backdrop. It also had a very nice build towards the last chorus run.

“Ladies and gentlemen, let’s pretend we’re at a German festival! And you’ll go: Hu, hu!”
- Jesper Binzer (vocals/guitar)

During the support by The Sandmen, I was confused about all the open space on the floor and among the balcony seats - could D-A-D really not pull more than this? Hadn't they said the place was sold out?
Well, they could, they only did it when it was their time to perform The place was sold out, and even though it didn't feel packed, there were a lot of people present! And as usual, they were all in support of their favourite native rock band. The crowd couldn’t sing along to the new songs yet, but when the classics started rolling, tongues quickly loosened up. Songs like Everything Glows, Jihad, and more had some well-placed audience participation, and it was pleasantly surprising that these moments weren’t milked. Not like a certain guitar solo in Sleeping My Day Away, which is clearly the band’s Freebird by now, but that’s another story.
It was nice to finally see Stig Pedersen’s iPhone bass in full effect, and Jesper Binzer and Laust Sonne had a witty banter flowing throughout, especially concerning the new songs, and how many percent of the audience they thought were on board with the individual tracks, but other than that, the show lacked any of the flashy effects we have come to expect from the band. No flaming drums, no flying guitarists, no sparkler helmet, nothing of that sort - just good old rocking out. Concerning that, the band seemed to waver a bit between falling into routine performing (which is still pretty good when it comes to D-A-D), and being present and on point. It was primarily in the new material that they threw some of the theatrics away, and were more present in the music - not so surprising, but it was a welcome change actually.

Overall, D-A-D delivered the type of show that only they can once again, and KB Hallen has certainly been warmed up for further use now. In addition to this, it was nice to hear new material from the band, but given the type of show this was, it would have been nice if the new songs were a bit better presented. Not all of them were introduced by name, and it would have been nice to hear a little more about them and their creation. Oh well, we’ll have the album soon enough, and I’m sure this isn’t the last we’ve heard of them live either.

Setlist:

Burning Star
Musical Chairs
Jihad
A New Age Moving in
Point Of View
Everything Glows
A Prayer For the Loud
Something Good
Grow Or Pay
The Sky Is Made Of Blues
Jackie O’
Riding With Sue
Nothing Ever Changes
Reconstrucdead
Monster Philosophy
No Doubt About it
I Want What She’s Got
Evil Twin
Bad Craziness
Sleeping My Day Away
Laugh ‘N’ A ½
It’s After Dark