Happy, happy Hallowee…
          No, wait…
Happy birthday D-A-D, D-A-D, D-A-D!
          Yeah, that’s better!

Yes, it was November 1st and D-A-D was celebrating their 40th anniversary as a band (counting from the time Jacob Binzer joined the band, of course).
For this, they had secured the local, cozy venue of Royal Arena and some of their closest friends were in attendance - yes, the place was sold out, jam-packed, and ready to burst!
Baby In Vain was done with their support gig, the stage was stacked with things of all sorts, and the lights were beginning to dim…

Stage lights up, showing us a Molly-shaped inclined podium with drums sticking out of the forehead. Behind it, or resting on the head and horns if you will, were several large decorations indicating various eras of the band’s career - there was an Overmuch speaker, a Helpyourselfish fish head, the Riskin’ It All couch (there was also one of these couches outside the venue, for fans to play around with) and many, many more things to look at.
Behind that, an LED video screen backdrop, and in front , there was also a long catwalk sticking out from the middle of the stage, ending in a large birthday cake shaped podium.

“Dear friends, I just need to make sure, are you all here?!”
- Jesper Binzer (vocals/guitar)

This was where the actual show started, on the birthday cake. The band had, led on by the cheering fans, gone out there via the security pit, and a second drumkit had risen from the middle of the cake. D-A-D didn’t hesitate for a second, and blasted straight into Jihad, a perfect opening track that promised of high energy and even higher entertainment to come. Already at this point, compliments must be given to the lighting team, because the lightshow part of the concert was extraordinary! Overall beautiful, and that huge Molly light rig at the end, with its moveable spotlight eyes, reminiscent in spirit of the bomber light rig used by Motörhead, was
Well, the whole show was extraordinary, but we’ll pick that apart as we come to it.

The cake was large, but not so large so the band members had much space to move about, so when it came to the third song, 1st, 2nd & 3rd (that’s the track title, even though it can look confusing in this context), it was a relief to see them move on to the stage proper, and thus be able to really perform as well as play the songs. Interestingly, it was Laust Sonne, tied to his drums as it were, who showed the highest level of energy as he blasted away - ok, so he is the young gun of the pack after all, but still. Stig ‘Stigge Nasty’ Pedersen was not too far behind though, dancing and prancing, going up and down the monitors, and truly working up a sweat in giving the fans what they wanted.
The Binzer brothers, Jesper and Jacob were rocking as well, but were taking a decidedly less physical approach to it than the other two, although these two favoured using the catwalk a lot, getting closer to the fans further out in the arena. They were of course also the ones going through the crowd all the way to the tech table at the other end of the arena to perform Laugh ‘N’ A ½, but that’s way down the setlist still.

Yes, the setlist was long, 25 songs to be precise, and as it turned out, D-A-D was not alone in performing them. No, in addition to the many friends they had in the audience, they also brought some on stage with them - and so it was that when it was time for Something Good (again, the track title, even though the context can be confusing again), out of the cake rose a pop singer on the rise, Jada (a.k.a. Emilie Molsted Nørgaard), and the song was sung as a duet between her and Jesper Binzer. She brought a dose of renewed energy and joy to the stage, that picked the rest of the band up even further.
Having thus been in a happy place, D-A-D chose to also go in a slightly different direction. For the band classic I Won’t Cut My Hair, a darker figure rose from the cake. This time it was Rikke Emilie List of Danish death & doom metal outfit Konvent. On a personal note, it was kinda amusing to see many of the more ‘regular’ people around me getting outright shocked at the deep, guttural growls that spat out of her throat. Not sure how well it actually fit for D-A-D, but I love that they went there.
The best guest was saved for last however, as out of the cake rose the secondary drumset once again, and who should we find sitting behind it but D-A-D’s original drummer, Peter Lundholm Jensen! Yes, I am old enough to have seen D-A-D when he was still a part of the band, and so this appearance was doubly entertaining! Jensen proved to still be in fighting condition, even with having left the music industry altogether back in -99 when he left D-A-D, and he played three old tracks with his former bandmates, as well as a drum-off with current drummer Sonne.

Yes, the drummers were certainly up to deliver some new and inventive tricks, something that’s become a staple of any and all D-A-D liveshows. What happened was, after Jensen popped up out of the cake and played Isn’t That Wild, a platform suspended by chains descended from the lofty ceiling of the arena, revealing a third drumkit(!) and Sonne sitting behind it! Thus Marlboro Man and Bad Craziness was performed with both drummers playing, While they clearly have different styles of playing, it was impressive to see just how in sync they still were with each other.
That there was an overall love for Jensen’s return visit from the crowd was also easy to feel and hear. As any experienced D-A-D concert visitor will attest, there is always a section of the show saved for the crowd to call out their love for Sonne in order to coax a drum solo out of him (this show was no different), but in a turn that seemed fully unexpected to the band, the fans also took this chant up for Jensen! There was a drum-off, as mentioned, which was placed at the end of Marlboro Man, where he did get to blow off some steam, and while I’m not usually a fan of extended solos of any kind, this was a lot of fun. It wasn’t overly long, it was highly varied, and changing from one drummer to the other also helped - a perfect way to unite the old and new of the band.

“We are celebrating 400 years (yes, that's what he said), and as Jesper mentioned, we are going to celebrate it by playing some old shit! That’s where I get to sing!”
- Stig Pedersen (vocals/bass)

The whole celebration proved to be a perfect blend of the band’s old and new, with the tracks picked from Speed Of Darkness blending well into the rest of the hit list that was comprised for us. My personal favourite as of this moment, God Prays To Man, was there, and I feel The Ghost has grown considerably with repeated listens. Other favourite musical moments was the Jonnie and Call Of The Wild medley (well, they called it a medley, but the bulk of both songs were played, so it was only by a quick transition from one to the other that this term could be applied), and the guest appearance parts as already mentioned - certainly topped by that of Jensen. Don’t get me wrong, Laust Sonne is definitely the drummer of the band, he’s been in the band the longest of the two by now, and that is exactly how it should be, but I’ve been wishing for a guest appearance such as this for a long time, and this was of course the best time for the band to deliver it.

It wasn’t a perfect concert. I will never stop beating the horse with no name about them choosing other songs from Helpyourselfish to play except Reconstrucdead (and the highly rare occurrence of Helpyourselfish and Written In Water), and while there, as indicated above, a whole lot of fun gimmicks in the show, Pedersen’s fireworks helmet included, I did miss a bit more from the Binzer brothers themselves. In the past, we’ve seen Cobber play while riding a highline above the audience, and something like that (not necessarily that specifically) would have been nice to see, as this was such a special event kind of show. The Laugh ‘N’ A ½ bit was appreciated though, and especially so the part where they had an acoustic jam going all the while they were going from stage to mixing table.

“Imagine having so many show up to your birthday!”
- Jacob ‘Cobber’ Binzer (guitar)

The concert was damned fine though, as should also come across from the above text, and even with the minor nitpicks mentioned, I absolutely loved it. D-A-D nailed so many things this night, it’s impossible to count this, their 40th anniversary/birthday show as anything but an utter success. Tophats off to you!

Setlist:

Jihad
Evil Twin
1st, 2nd & 3rd
Rim Of Hell
Point Of View
The Ghost
Soft Dogs
Grow Or Pay
Something Good (feat. Jada)
Jonnie / Call Of The Wild
Riding With Sue
Speed Of Darkness
Keep That Mother Down
I Won’t Cut My Hair (feat. Rikke Emilie List)
Reconstrucdead
Everything Glows
Monster Philosophy
Isn’t That Wild (feat. Peter Lundholm Jensen)
Marlboro Man (feat. Peter Lundholm Jensen)
Bad Craziness (feat. Peter Lundholm Jensen)
God Prays To Man
Sleeping My Day Away
Laugh ‘N’ A ½
It’s After Dark