The Dream Syndicate

The Dream Syndicate will be hitting the highways of the US and Europe from November of ‘25 until next March in support of the 4CD/LP reissue of Medicine Show which comes out in October on the band’s own Down There record label (exclusively distributed by Fire).

It will be the first time The Dream Syndicate has ever toured a performance of the album in its entirety. The shows will be the same format as the ones the band did for the reissue of The Days of Wine and Roses a few years back—opening the show with a set of material drawn from their quartet of 21st Century critically acclaimed albums, taking a break and then playing Medicine Show from start to finish.

“It won’t be so much a matter of trying to replicate the exact sound of the original album,” says founding member and singer/songwriter Steve Wynn “but rather us playing the kind of show we would have played in 1984.” One of those shows ended up on an EP called “This is Not the New Dream Syndicate album…LIVE” that will also be part of the reissue box set.

The shows will feature the core band of the last 13 years—Wynn, guitarist Jason Victor, bass guitarist Mark Walton and drummer Dennis Duck, augmented once again by longstanding keyboard player Chris Cacavas (Green On Red) in Europe and the East Coast with Willie Aron (Holy Brothers, Balancing Act) filling in on the West Coast.

The reissue comes after a lengthy legal battle with Universal Music Group which found the band winning back rights to the album which had been out of print for several decades. There’s no lack of irony and even vindication that an album that took 6 months and nearly a quarter of a million dollars to make has ended up on the living room label that the band started at the very beginning.

When the Dream Syndicate emerged in the early 80s, frontman Steve Wynn declared that "we're playing music we want to hear because nobody else is doing it" -- he added, "I'll comprise on what I eat or where I sleep, but I won't compromise on what music I play."

Both were true, although their template of Velvet Underground meets Crazy Horse may seem commonplace today (and let's not forget, the Syndicate spawned many imitators), their raw twin guitar, bass and drums approach was not common during an era when slick polished MTV bands ruled. The band were uncompromising. But before MTV switched to reality shows, The Dream Syndicate of The Days of Wine & Roses were no more.

We could spend a whole page just talking about the original Dream Syndicate and their debut album The Days of Wine & Roses -- but suffice to say that the NME, Melody Maker, Sounds, Rolling Stone, et al -- all loved it.

Decades later, in 2012 they remerged with a slight change in line-up, guitarist Jason Victor joining two original members Steve Wynn (singer/songwriter/guitarist) & drummer Dennis Duck and long-time bassist Mark Walton (a member since 1984) -- and after a blaze of touring, they recorded their first album in decades, How Did I Find Myself Here?

"The kind of comeback you always want your favorite band to make." MOJO

The Dream Syndicate
The album was surprisingly fresh (the addition of former Green on Red keyboardist Chris Cacavas provided lush textures previously unknown in their guitar-based music) and more surprising was a vocal cameo from co-founding member, the long-lost chanteuse Kendra Smith.

More touring (joined by now official member Cacavas) followed quickly by another album These Times -- which refined the sonic landscapes explored on How Did I Find Myself Here?

This band is not regurgitating old albums and previous glories, but developing with the same urgency that a pack of youngsters would.

The Dream Syndicate
Any fan who has been paying attention already knows the Dream Syndicate aren't going to make another album that sounds like The Days of Wine and Roses (they haven't since 1982), and it's foolish to expect that. But they don't really need to when they're capable of making music as good as These Times; this is passionate and rewarding music from artists still exploring new territory with truly satisfying results. -- AllMusic



That was followed by the experimental free-form psychedelic The Universe Inside. Just look at the song lengths; 20:27, 7:36, 8:56, 9:55 and 10:53. Building off of the legacy of their earlier "John Coltrane Stereo Blues" of 9 minutes with live versions well over the ten-minute mark.



The Dream Syndicate

However, when one thinks of the Dream Syndicate, it's not just the wild abandon with which singer/guitarist Wynn, drummer Dennis Duck, bassist Mark Walton, and lead guitarist Jason Victor perform -- it's the carefully constructed song writing of Wynn that comes to mind and by now every rock critic in the world has predetermined who they feel the Dream Syndicate reminds them of and what they think of that style of music -- but, This time, don't!