The Dan Reed Network formed in 1984 out of Portland Oregon under the genre of a Punk Rock band, but don’t let that fool you, liking rock music and wanting to fill dance floors they combined grooves with heavy rock riffs. Opening for bands such as UB40, Bon Jovi and The Rolling Stones in the 90’s. The Network felt they reached the height of where they could take their music and disbanded.
Fast-forward to 2015 that Dan Reed Network played there 25th Anniversary Reunion show in their hometown of Portland, Oregon with all the original members. Realizing how much fun it was playing together again, they went on to play sold-out shows in Stockholm and Festival’s in Northern Ireland and Sweden, thus the resurgence of the Dan Reed network.
Being the first time the Network has played at the iconic Whisky A Go Go in West Hollywood, California, they made a lasting impression. You would never be able to tell it’s been twenty-three years since they played together, their energy, musicianship, and iconic groove is still intact, touring their recent release Fight Another Day on Frontiers music.
As the lights goes down during the intro music, guitarist Brion James (The Mad Scientist), bassist Melvin Brannon ll (The Funk Master), keyboardist Rob Daiker (Co-Producer) and drummer Dan Pred (Childhood Friend) appear on stage to cheers, as the fans were at high pitch when Dan Reed entered the stage, opening up with Resurrect off their self-titled Dan Reed Network (1988) album, after technical difficulties with the bass amp and laughter, they moved right into Under My Skin off Slam (1989) album rounded out by Infected (Fight Another Day).
Only knowing and appreciating their music, this was the first time I have seen them live and I has hooked. The atmosphere, the vibe of the fans the musicianship even the comedic aspect left you wanting more. At times feeling like you’re in their studio rehearsing, stopping in mid song to do it again and again till right, I’m sure it’s all rehearsed but great fun to watch. Their current release Fight Another Day has deep meaning in the lyrics, the album overall is about cultivating relationships and keeping the ones that are valuable. Songs like Brave deals with their addition to the dark side, willing to change the meaning of what rebel is. Learning to lean on each other rather than building walls. Champion the album title Fight Another Day stems from this song, it’s about surrounding yourself with positive people giving you the strength to fight another day. Already being one of my favorites off this album, it has a special meaning as Dan Reed leaned down and took a hold of my hand while singing this song, thank you Dan for giving me a moment that I will cherish.
The 14-song set included several fan favorites Rainbow Child, Baby Now I, Ritual to name a few, guitar virtuoso Brion James sang a down home Honduras reggae groove called Save the World off the Fight Another Day album. Closing out the set with Get to You off self-titled Dan Reed Network album.
Set List:
Resurrect
Under My Skin
Infected
Baby Now I
The Brave
Rainbow Child
Come Back
Forgot to Make Her Mine
Champion
Ritual
Stronger than Steel
Save the World
Make It Easy
Get to You
All photos by Tammy Greene
©2016. Please DO NOT copy or use without permission.
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