Boom Crash Opera Album and Tour

Here’s the thing about Boom Crash Opera. They were really good at what they did. And what they did was superbly constructed hooky, memorable, shiny, catchy pop/rock songs. And they had plenty of them.  Try Great Wall, Onion Skin, Hands Up In The Air, Dancing In The Storm and The Best Thing to name a few.

Yet for some reason they are sometimes treated with a little less respect than their track record deserves.

It’s not that they really damaged their legacy too much after their heyday. Richard Pleasance went on to make some great solo records and write some very classy film and television music while Pete Farnan worked with a number of artists as a producer and musician.

Recently Boom Crash Opera reformed and recorded some of their hits and strong album tracks in acoustic mode. The fruits of this rather painless labour can be heard on the band’s first ever acoustic album, Dancing In The Storm.

After a single day of pre-production, it was recorded in three days in February at Richard’s country Victorian studio with an emphasis on “the songs that came easy, without too much thinking or mucking around,” said Farnan.

Classics like Onion Skin, Hands Up In The Air and The Best Thing are relieved of ’80s excess and imbued with new weight courtesy of Dale’s strikingly seasoned voice, the weathered timbre of the band’s trademark unison backing vocals, and the precise acoustic textures of guitar, sitar and banjo-mandolin.

“A lot of this was a surprise to us, as much as anybody,” Pete reflects. “It’s hard to remember how we were perceived back then but when you bring it all back to the songs, it all still sounds pretty good to us.”

To celebrate the release of their ‘Dancing In The Storm’ acoustic album through the Liberation Blue label on Friday May 1st, 2009, Boom Crash Opera will head out on tour to perform live where they will be joined by Taxiride and Sean Kelly (of The Models).

TOUR DATES

May 14 Conrad Treasury Casino “Live Wire Bar” Free show

May 15 Victoria Point Sharks Club – QLD

May 16 Coolangatta Hotel, Gold Coast – QLD

May 21 The Basement, Sydney – NSW

May 22 Towradgi Beach Hotel, Wollongong – NSW

May 29 Corner Hotel, Melbourne – VIC

May 30 The Barwon Heads Hotel – VIC

June 7 Rutherglen Winery – VIC

June 12 The Governor Hindmarsh, Adelaide – SA