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Review: Snake Oil and Harmony

Borderline London March 3rd 2018

Reviewer: Dan Mann

The Snake Oil and Harmony Tour is now on it’s third outing, with messers Danny Vaughn (Tyketto) and Dan Reed (Dan Reed Network) presenting an intimate, stripped back experience stretched over two hours.

After experiencing Snake Oil and Harmony for the first time, my immediate reaction was why only two hours!

I was so drawn into not only the music itself, played on acoustic guitars, which covered songs from across DV & DR’s wide and varied careers, but also the stories, some of them quite personal, and the general banter between the two performers and the audience.

It was pretty obvious the audience were made up of Tyketto and Dan Reed Network etc fans, who sang along with much gusto to the delight of DV & DR. All of which just added to the overall experience.

One things for certain, I’ll be buying tickets again at the earliest opportunity.

 

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Dan Reed Network are pleased to confirm they will be special guest on Extreme’s December 2017 UK tour.

The O2 Pre-sale starts Wednesday, 2 August at 9am, followed by a Live Nation Pre-sale on Thursday 3 August at 9am. Tickets go on sale to the general public from livenation.co.uk and www.ticketmaster.co.uk on Friday 4 August at 9am.

All cylinders are furiously firing, Dan Reed Network are back all guns blazing. With the recent release of their critically acclaimed album ‘Fight Another Day‘ safely in their pockets, the band have indulged Europe and the States in a fiery return to the touring circuit.

“DRN is honoured to be touring with Extreme this December in the UK,” says Dan Reed. “The funk rock scene of the late 80’s early 90’s was an exciting, inventive era in the music scene and to be sharing the stage with one of a handful of bands that championed that movement will be nothing but good times on stage for us, and a raucous experience for the audience. This tour promises to be an adrenaline fueled evening of soaring melodies, infectious grooves and a party atmosphere that we in the band are truly excited about being a part of, and we are tremendously grateful to be on the road with such a talented and innovative band. Time to funk it up big time!”

Extreme December UK Tour
Special Guests Dan Reed Network
Book online – livenation.co.uk and www.ticketmaster.co.uk

Newcastle O2 Academy Wednesday 13 December
Glasgow O2 Academy                    Thursday 14 December
Leeds O2 Academy                         Saturday 16 December
Birmingham O2 Academy            Sunday 17 December
Bristol O2 Academy                        Monday 18 December
London O2 Academy Brixton      Wednesday 20 December

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Dan Reed’s fourth solo album ‘Confessions’ will be available for worldwide pre-order through the Dan Reed Store from Wednesday 5th July, before it is officially released on Friday 15th September.

The new album will coincide with Dan’s intimate solo tour in beautiful settings which kicks off at London’s St. Pancras Old Church on Thursday 14th September. Tickets for Dan’s solo tour can be booked from www.ticketsource.co.uk/dan-reed-confessions.

Each of the UK solo concerts will be filmed and recorded for an upcoming live DVD compilation.  Everyone ticket buyer in the UK will receive a free DVD download in September.

The official music video for first single ‘Smile’ will be premiered on Monday 14th August. A limited edition run of 100 signed copies of the single ‘Smile’ on 7” cream coloured vinyl is now available for pre-order before it is officially released on Friday 1st September. The single includes a second track ‘Lift You Up’ on the B-Side. Pre-order the single from the Dan Reed Store.

For ‘Confessions‘, Dan wanted to create a genuine solo album to push his own comfort zone as a keyboardist and guitarist, creating something entirely from self-expression. Reed performed all the live instruments and vocals, and also programmed the beats and synth parts.

The album features special guest appearances by guitarists Rob Daiker, Geoff Tyson and Martin Tidmarsh.

Dan Reed – ‘Confessions’ – Solo September 2017 UK Tour

Book Online – www.ticketsource.co.uk 

London, St. Pancras Old Church                                 Thursday 14 September

Manchester, Sacred Trinity Church Salford          Friday 15 September (SOLD OUT)

Newcastle, The Cluny 2                                                 Saturday 16 September

Nottingham, Greyhound Beeston                            Sunday 17 September (SOLD OUT)

Photo Credit: © The Margo

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Crammed into a hot and sweaty 100 Club on a Friday night, the evening’s entertainment was kicked off in fine style by British melodic rockers Vega.

photo by Eric Duvet Photography

Having seen them a few times over the years, I kind of knew what to expect. However, I was wrong……….the band kicked things up not one notch, but three or four! Vocalist Nick Workman‘s voice just seems to get better and better and he and the rest of the band were truly on fine form.

The enthusiastic crowd sang along to every track and the band could quite easily have performed for a couple of hours. They certainly deserve to be headlining Festivals in my humble opinion.

And so to the headliners, Dan Reed Network. I was fortunate enough to have seen them the first three times they visited these shores, including the awesome, more than capacity crowd gig at the sorely missed Marquee.

Dan Reed announced that they would be ‘starting slow’. This ‘announcement was said with a twinkle in the eye, the band launching into their performance with boosters firmly on full power.

We were barely into the set when minutes after I was chatting to Nathan James (Inglorious) in the crowd , he took to the stage for a ‘duet’ with Dan Reed & Co of Kiss track ‘Rock And Roll All Nite’. The crowd lapping it up, the vibe already firmly set that it was time to get into the groove and let the music take you along for the ride.

photo by Eric Duvet Photography

It’s wonderful to hear so many favorites live once again, from the superb ‘Get To You‘ through to ‘Cruise Together‘. The on stage banter and camaraderie of the band is something that makes you smile from ear to ear. Dan Reed announcing he’s Trump, and issuing an ‘executive order’ to guitarist extraordinaire Brion James to play some Steely Dan, Brion rising to the challenge with a rendition of ‘Rikki Don’t Lose That Number’ accompanied by Dan proceeding to eat his own t-shirt!

The crowd were actively encouraged to get involved, either singing along to ‘Seven Sisters Road’ or shouting requests.

photo by Eric Duvet Photography

We were treated to keyboardist Rob Daiker taking to the guitar to perform one of his solo songs, ‘All For A Kiss’, which I’ve got to say was fantastic, and just highlights the overflowing talent this band has.

You can tell the professionalism of a band by how they act when gremlins affect the sound or equipment. Strange buzzing caused Dan Reed to initially ‘accuse’ the master of the bass line, Melvin Brannon, of having a faulty amp. All taken in good jest and the vibe didn’t drop 1%, the crowd laughing along.

The highlight for me was ‘Champion‘ from their latest album ‘Fight Another Day‘. It caused the hairs on the back of my neck to stand up and reinforced the fact that the passage of time has done nothing to reduce the impact this band has, either recorded or live!

Overall, this is going to be a hard evening to beat this year, both bands giving us a performance to relish and remember.

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Fight Another Day

To coincide with their UK & European tour, Dan Reed Network talk about the concept behind music video for their sublime and exhilarating new single, ‘Champion’.

“Champion deals with the concept that we are what we eat, not just our physical health but our soul’s well-being,” says Dan Reed. “It’s about surrounding ourselves with people that feed our dreams, support and push us to be more creative, more alive, and to enjoy the ride.”

“The video portrays the intensity in the eyes of people from every walk of life. Having the band performing in front of the rear projected screens was to immerse those of us who wrote and will be performing this song live to visually state we all live in this bubble of light where every person we meet brings new insights, lessons, strength, and if we’re lucky, wisdom.”

‘Fight Another Day – March 2017 UK Tour

Book Online – www.danreed-network.com

Wednesday 1st March                  Level 3 Club, Swindon

Friday 3rd March                              Warehouse 23, Wakefield

Saturday 4th March                        Live Rooms, Chester

Sunday 5th March                           The Globe, Cardiff

Tuesday 7th March                         The Cluny, Newcastle

Wednesday 8th March                  Oran Mor, Glasgow

Friday 10th March                           100 Club, London

Saturday 11th March                      Local Authority, Sheffield

Sunday 12th March                         The Robin 2, Bilston

Tuesday 14th March                       Ruby Lounge, Manchester

Wednesday 15th March               Rescue Rooms, Nottingham

Photo Credit: Amanda Rose
Photo Credit: Amanda Rose

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Transmission

Dan Reed, formerly of ‘Dan Reed Network’, (DRN) will soon be releasing his third solo album entitled ‘Transmission’. It will be released in Europe (excluding the UK) on March 27th, 2015. This collection of songs was composed and recorded in Prague and takes on a more live feel and energy than his previous two studio releases ‘Signal Fire’ and ‘Coming Up for Air’. Reed has always had a passion for groups like ‘Bad Company’, ‘Pink Floyd’, and ‘Fleetwood Mac’ and ‘Transmission’ takes it’s aim at realising this type of in your face, honest rock production. Besides tackling all the vocals, Dan performed all the guitar and keyboard work, performing live in the studio beside famed drummer Robert Ikiz from Turkey and bassist Bengan Jonasson from Sweden.

This collection of songs primarily takes a look at the dark side of the human condition and tries to make sense of trying to find light in the midst of the chaos. This will be Dan’s second album financed through Pledge Music through those who support his music and reached 100 percent of it’s goal in less than 2 weeks from launching the campaign.

Dan Reed

Reed’s second solo CD, ‘Signal Fire’ released in early 2013, was a collection of thought provoking tracks, co-produced by Reed and Rob Daiker (Meredith Brooks/Katy Perry/Fame Riot). Signal Fire represented a step toward a more edgier sound than his 2010 solo effort ‘Coming Up for Air’, yet still held on to the intention of finding hope in a world riddled with great hypocrisy and great hope.

While ‘Coming Up for Air’ was composed in Jerusalem and Northern India during 2007/2008 and represented Reed’s quest for insight on religious conflicts and making peace with inner demons, ‘Signal Fire’ took a more pointed look at the world’s political/social/environmental conflicts. With ‘Transmission’ Dan decided to leave political statements somewhat behind and focus more on the conflict within the human heart and soul.

Dan also released a solo acoustic album entitled ‘In Between the Noise’ in 2014, as well as a DRN compilation 2 disc set called ‘Anthology’ which covered both previously released DRN songs, along with 4 new live tracks from the Network’s recent reunion shows and unreleased B-Sides. ‘Anthology was also funded through Pledge Music and their fans.

Dan Reed Network was signed to Polygram in 1988 by Derek Shulman, famed A+R man who signed ‘Bon Jovi’. Managed by Bill Graham and Q-Prime later, DRN played opening act on European tours for Bon Jovi, The Rolling Stones, David Bowie and Midnight Oil, and performed in America with Run DMC and toured with UB40. Selling nearly 2 million albums worldwide, DRN was part of the funk rock movement and released three albums with Polygram between 1989 and 1992. ‘Transmission’ stands as a good example of where Dan can take the groove in these times, both musically and lyrically.

Reed took a long hiatus from the music business in early 2003 and spent 4 years in Northern India and Jerusalem, living in a Tibetan Monastery and studying religions while in the Middle East. Coming back to music in 2009 he now performs extensively throughout Europe and the United States, both with his solo band and DRN and has in recent years performed at the ‘Sweden Rock Festival’ and England’s ‘Download Festival’ twice.

With ‘Transmission’ Dan hopes that getting back to the roots of live performance is a positive direction in a world addicted to canned music, drum machines and auto-tuned vocals.

“I just felt it was time to get back to something that feels real, organic, and in tune with the human condition.” – Reed

Soundfiles in advance:

DAN REED – Broken Soul (Edit)

DAN REED – Drive (Edit)

DAN REED – Roll The Dice (Edit)

Tracklist: 01. Broken Soul  02.Roll the Dice 03.Drive 04.Anywhere But Here 05.Bending the Light 06.Arm Yourself 07.Fire in the Pyramid 08.You’re All I Need 09.On the Metro 10.Ear to the Track 11.What Dreams May Come 12.Already There 13. She’s Not You

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In an exclusive interview with the Rock’N’Load webzine, Dan Reed has confirmed that the 5 original members of Dan Reed Network will enter the studio in 2015 to record a new album.


Dan Reed said “We are really having a great time since we got back together and this has made ​​us come to the idea of producing a new disc. We are very curious to see how it will play an album of Dan Reed Network 20 years later. I wrote a little ‘heavy stuff for my solo material, but I’m going to use it for the Network and I’ve already sent the demo to the rest of the guys. The lyrics are much darker and the music pretty tough. We hope to record in the summer of 2015 to go out for fall. “

After they split up in 1993 the original members were reunited after almost 20 years to play in their hometown of Portland, Oregon, on New Year’s Eve 2012. They headlined the Enchanted Festival in Chelmsford, UK, and a triumphant performance at this year’s Download Festival.