Dallas Crane - Bringing their God Damn Pride to Australia

“The cyber landscape has changed the whole industry, and the single is not as important anymore, but it is a good excuse for a tour.”

They must have missed us… After a wowing audiences everywhere from the US to Japan, Dallas Crane have returned to our shores, and are straight back on the road for their God Damn Pride tour. Dave Larkin took some time out from the band’s heavy schedule to chat to The Dwarf about the upcoming tour and what the band has been up to.

God Damn Pride sees the Crane on the road for over three weeks of music and mayhem, kicking off with two shows in Hobart, followed by Launceston. “We love playing Tassie, and they seem to love us… We always have a great time there.” Following their Tassie gigs the Crane will take in shows in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Ballarat, Geelong and finishing off in WA with Dunsborough and Perth.
This trip sees them with a widely varied supporting cast, including Melbourne band 67 Special, SIGIT ( Super Insurgent Group of Intemperance Talent) from Indonesia and The Bawdies (from Japan), but all having one thing in common, they all put on a great live show.

Putting together the bill for a Dallas Crane tour is a complicated process, and not just anyone can come along for the ride. “We like people to get their money’s worth” Dave explains. “All the bands we go on the road with are great live, and it all adds up to a great show.” Joining the Crane on the tour will be The S.I.G.I.T , described as an electric, hard rock’n’roll group hailing from West Java in Indonesia, you know they wouldn’t be on the tour if they weren’t worth seeing.

Dallas Crane seem to always be touring. But for such a great act, they have never really been embraced by commercial radio. “We are not a radio band,” Dave says. “We keep ourselves going with gigs.” Not that radio acceptance would stop them from touring, but it would mean one or two tours a year instead of the constant touring they do now. “We love touring. It’s great being on the road. It’s strenuous, but our tours are a little like holidays and we’ve discovered some fantastic places.”

The nineties saw a downturn in interest in rock music and consequently the whole live music scene. Record companies weren’t interested in signing and promoting bands. The performance aspect of the industry was getting pushed to the side. It wasn’t a good time to be in the rock business. But luckily interest slowly returned and the whole live music scene became ‘cool’ again, and bands like Dallas Crane have been allowed to survive and supply us with great shows and the live music scene in Australia at present is unbelievably good. As Dave iterates “You can’t download the experience of a live show.” There’s a certain ambience that can only be experienced by being there. The energy and atmosphere of a good live performance is something that needs to be experienced first hand. And Dallas Crane is one band that always delivers a unique and unforgettable experience. Their passion for their music comes across in their performance, and you walk away with your ears ringing and their songs resonating in your head, knowing you‘ve been a part of something special.

Recently the Crane ventured overseas to share their music with the rest of the world. Their visit to the US took in South by South West (SXSW) a huge music and arts festival/showcase that takes place annually in Austin, Texas. Dallas Crane were part of a strong Aussie contingent there including Airbourne, You Am I, Beasts Of Bourbon, Children Collide, Hoodoo Gurus and many more. “SXSW is amazing. The whole city closes down and for a whole week it’s just all about the music. There’s people everywhere and bands playing every night from 10pm til late.”

The US was followed by a sold-out show in London and then some time in Japan. “Japan was fantastic, and it all went really well. They have such a highly organised music scene there.” Their music was well received and they will be returning there later in the year. While in Japan, Dallas Crane played a few gigs with The Bawdies. The Bawdies, hailing from Tokyo, Japan and playing classic, good time rock will be joining them on some of their tour dates.

Dallas Crane were also one of the bands invited to perform on The Cold Chisel tribute album, Standing On The Outside. They jumped at the chance to appear on the album, and they perform the title track. “The song came out really well, but it’s hard to sing like Jimmy Barnes.” Dave says. Dave Larkin also did guest vocals on The Flairz version of ‘Shipping Steele’.

‘God Damn Pride’ from their Factory Girls album is out now as a limited edition single, complete with “Matter of Time’ and a live version of ‘Unlucky Star’. Although, according to Dave “The cyber landscape has changed the whole industry, and the single is not as important anymore, but it is a good excuse for a tour.” This will be the last major tour from Dallas Crane for a while though. After this, they’ll be returning to the studio to work on their next album, and have plans to head back overseas towards the end of the year.

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