Denmark’s most celebrated rock band D-A-D return to Australia by popular demand in 2025 for a Greatest Hits Tour

Welcome to the wildest R‘n’R amusement park!

Known for their lunatic personas and stage antics backed by solid musical skills and songwriting chops, D-A-D made their international breakthrough in 1989 with the album No Fuel Left For The Pilgrims which spawned the hits ‘Girl Nation’, ‘Jihad,’ ‘Point Of View’ and the MTV favourite and global smash single ‘Sleeping My Day Away’. Fans can expect to hear these classics and other favourites ‘Laugh ‘n’ a 1/2’, Bad Craziness’, ‘Grow or Pay’, ‘Everything Glows’ and more.

Many bands never get to stick together and celebrate their 40-year anniversary without any breaks, but the fact this is currently happening to one of Denmark’s best and most popular rock band, with an even greater audience beyond the country’s borders, is remarkable. It’s in fact more than that, according to bassist Stig Pedersen:‘’Turning 40 as a band is in and of itself totally crazy. We are a social experiment!”, he states. They even got their own museum exhibition at the Danish National Museum.

Get ready for unapologetic hard-hitting’ rock ‘n’ roll from Denmark when D-A-D return in May 2025 for their Greatest Hits Tour! Treating fans, old and new, to a sonic journey through the band’s illustrious career.

“a D-A-D show is a party and it always will be” Jesper

Bio

D-A-D, Danish rockers  40th Anniversary World Tour this May!

Welcome to the wildest R’n’R amusement park!

For this special occasion they will perform all their Greatest Hits – Sleeping My Day Away, Girl Nation, Jihad, Laugh And 1/2, Bad Craziness, It’s After Dark, I Want What She’s Got and heaps more!

Combining rockabilly attitude, catchy melodies and choruses with a penchant for bluesy hard rock boogie, D-A-D were one of the most unique bands to come out of the 1980s European hard rock scene. Originally called Disneyland After Dark, D-A-D abbreviated their name to forge their own identity away from Walt’s watching and litigious eye. A fact that feels like less than a footnote after such a long and prestigious career. D-A-D surged onto the international scene with their 1989 album, “No Fuel Left for The Pilgrims” propelled by hit single “Sleeping My Day Away” which spent 2 weeks on the UK top 100 in 1989. Never one to rest on their laurels, D-A-D continued to push the envelope with their records, always evolving with the times, while never straying from the core sensibilities that brought them their success. This enabled D-A-D consistent acclaim from both critics and fans alike, where many of their peers faltered. Their most recent record, last year’s A Prayer for the Loud represents all the most classic elements of D-A-D; Jacob Binzer’s unique guitar tone, catchy melodies, monstrous choruses, poignant ballads and all given that unique D-A-D charm by way of Jesper Binzer’s raspy yet powerful vocals. Australia’s Heavy Mag describe A Prayer for the Loud as “like shaking hands with an old mate or hugging a new friend. Just really good, catchy rock that tugs at the heartstrings.”

D-A-D first started in the early 80s in Copenhagen, Denmark, emerging out of the Danish punk scene. The band’s initial core line up consisted of Stig Pedersen, Jesper Binzer and Peter Lundholm Jensen. Initially Jesper only played guitar and Stig Pedersen’s girlfriend at the time, Lene Glumer was the band’s original lead singer. The band took on the name Disneyland After Dark, based on the concept that when the lights are off in Disneyland, anything could happen. Disneyland After Dark performed their first concert on December 3 1982 at the Sunday Algaard youth club. The band felt Lene did not work out as a singer, and she was fired the next day.

The band then proceeded to develop it’s unique cowpunk sound; Country music chords and notes, played with punk attitude and lyrics that took country and rock ’n roll cliches but gave them an ironic twist. This really came to fruition when the band brought in Jesper’s younger brother, Jacob as lead guitarist. Known in the scene as “Cobber”, Jacob could add in the flourishes and flair the band needed that sounded like “the real country thing.” Eventually the band settled with the line up of Jesper, Stig, Peter and Cobber on 3 March 1984. The band consider this their true “birthday”.

As the band began to gig around Denmark, they were afforded a huge opportunity to open Roskilde Festival in 1984. Some representatives from the festival caught the band performing by chance and were so impressed they booked the unsigned, young band with a fresh new sound for Denmark’s biggest festival. The appearance at Roskilde boosted Disneyland After Dark’s reputation in Denmark and their demo tape came across the table of Frank Marstokk from Mega Records. A small label, but Marstokk was excited by the band’s unique cow punk sound. The label agreed to release a maxi single as a means to test the waters of the band’s commercial viability for a full length LP.

D-A-D released their first EP, Standin’ On The Never Never, in 1985. The EP contained the songs “Up, Up Over The Mountain Top”, “Marlboro Man” and “Never Never (Indian Love)”. The band’s combination of country and punk earned praise from some and ire from others. One critic called it “the best Danish record I have heard this year” while another said “I have listened to them while drinking Jack Daniels. It did not work. Maybe I should have had some more and chewed beef jerky to go with it?” The single did well enough commercially that Mega Records wished to proceed with a full length album.

Disneyland After Dark released their first album in February 1986. Entitled Call of the Wild, the album leans more into the band’s country influences than future releases both in terms of songs, lyrics and image. allmusic.com surmise “…what it lacks in finesse, Call of the Wild more than makes up for in terms of wacky authenticity — quite a ride!”. While the album was a far cry from a commercial breakthrough success, it did give the band motivation to tour outside the greater Copenhagen area. Performing in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. The band combined the shows with promotion of the album and this helped grow Disneyland After Dark’s notoriety and fanbase.

By the end of 1986, Disneyland After Dark were gearing up to record their second full length album. The band had decided to drop many of the country influences they employed on the debut and instead embraced a more hard rock boogie sound. The band brought in producer Mark Dearnley, who had worked as a technician on AC/DC’s Highway to Hell. Darnley was able to take all the band’s eclectic ideas and introduce a rigid discipline within the band that allowed them to record the album in under a month.

D.A.D Draws a Circle, Disneyland After Dark’s second record was released in June 1987. The album’s title has multiple meanings to the band. Put simply, it meant “make a record”, a circle – but more metaphorically the band has suggested the name refers to Disneyland After Dark coming full circle in terms of their identity, while still encompassing a variety of styles and genres. Draws a Circle received positive reviews and sold 30 000 copies in the band’s native Denmark – double that of Call of the Wild! Again the band toured through Europe to support the record, performing to larger crowds than before.

Following from the successes of Draws a Circle, Disneyland After Dark had outgrown Mega Records and having completed all their contractual obligations with the label, the band set about finding a larger label to further bolster their audience. In the summer of 1988 the band arranged a four date tour of the USA, used more as a means of grabbing the attention of record companies than a full national tour, the experience instead gave the band new inspirations for their next album. The band promptly recorded a three song demo tape that led to them eventually signing with Medley Records in Europe and Warner Bros. for international distribution.

No Fuel Left for the Pilgrims was released in Europe on 3 March of 1989, the band’s fifth birthday. No Fuel also marked Disneyland After Dark’s first international release, spawning hits such as “Sleeping My Day Away” and “Rim of Hell”. Eduardo Rivadavia of allmusic.com gave No Fuel the endorsement that “fans of raw, honest, hard rock simply can’t go wrong with No Fuel Left for the Pilgrims”. “Sleeping My Day Away” spent two weeks in the the top 100 UK Singles chart and peaked at number 23 on the US Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart. The music video for the song received heavy rotations on MTV, making it the band’s best known song. But in order to achieve this success the band would have to go through some difficult changes.

In June 1989, the band again performed at Denmark’s Roskilde Festival, this time substantially further up the bill, the band performed to 50 000 people. Warner Brothers delegates were in attendance and were very impressed with the band’s performance. Warner were eager to sign Disneyland After Dark, but were fearful that the Walt Disney Company may sue over the name. They requested the band change their name to avoid actual legal action being taken. And so Disneyland After Dark officially changed their name to D.A.D. and signed with Warner in September 1989 for international distribution for No Fuel Left for the Pilgrims.

The international deal led to the newly christened D.A.D. touring America, this time with a full 30 date national tour and in early 1990 the band toured Japan, Singapore and Australia. It was during this tour the band recorded the live album, Osaka After Dark. The band then looped back through Europe playing at major festivals including another appearance at Roskilde Festival. This performance saw Cobber fly out over the crowd on a suspension wire – an image burned into the minds of all who witnessed it.

After extensive touring and riding high on the success of No Fuel Left for the Pilgrims, D.A.D. set about recording their next record – this time thinking of international fame and fortune from the onset of the creative process. With ample financial backing from Warner, the band began writing and recording their fourth record. The writing process would take 9 months and the album was recorded at Medley Studios in Copenhagen in 1991. The band spent a lot of time and care to polish every song, a process they could not afford on prior recordings. In October of 1991, D.A.D. released “Riskin’ It All”, the title came from a conversation with an American record label executive, who had suggested that this album was “now or never”, if they were not commercially successful in the USA with this album, they would never get another chance.

The album cover for “Riskin’ It All” saw the band sitting on a huge sofa. The album’s original title was Bone-hard in Soft Surroundings, hence the hard rock band on a soft sofa to play further on the innuendo of the name. This living room setting formed the basis of the band’s stage set up for the following tour and was used for the music video for the album’s first single, “Bad Craziness”.

While the album was a success in Europe, where the band would spend eight months of near constant touring, this did not translate in America. Although Riskin’ It All had produced the hit “Grow or Pay” in the US, Warner were unhappy with the album’s performance commercially and so plans for a USA tour were dropped and even more disappointingly, Warner opted to drop D.A.D. from their label entirely.

The fallout of Riskin’ It All led to the band taking a three year hiatus. In 1994, D.A.D. reconnected and tried to find a new record deal, but were met with hesitation and disinterest. Still the band were stubborn in approach and with an existing deal with Medley (now EMI-Medley) in place the band set about recording their fourth record with Paul Northfield in Canada. The resulting album, Helpyourselfish was released in 1995. The band had changed the spelling of D.A.D. to D:A:D to better express the abbreviation. Helpyourselfish embraced a heavier and more aggressive direction that fit in with the post Grunge 90’s style. While the album was a hit with critics, it did not translate well to radio airplay and commercial success, due in large part to the unexpected heaviness of the band’s new sound. allmusic.com described the album as “a brave step in a new direction, Helpyourselfish remains D:A:D’s heaviest record, and also one of their best.” – but while the record’s commercial appeal may have been lukewarm, the European tour the band announced in support of the album was a huge success with many shows selling out immediately after being announced. The tour was marked with an elaborate stage production, including the title Helpyourselfish spelled out in big letters (approximately 2 meters) across the stage and Stig dressed as a bullfighter with a brand new olive-shaped bass. D:A:D also brought along a giant fish resembling the one on the cover, 7 meters long and complete with lights. D:A:D’s crew members referred to this tour as “the fishing trip”. The tour made Helpyourselfish a success in clubs and arenas, doing what they do best: playing live gigs. D:A:D finished off the year with the release of a collection of “Milestone material” on an album and video with the tongue in cheek title Good Clean Family Entertainment You Can Trust, celebrating the first decade of D:A:D.

D:A:D would return to the spotlight in 1997 with the album, Simpatico, mixed at Abbey Road Studios in London, the album marked yet another shift in direction. Turning down the heaviness of Helpyourselfish and focusing more on melody – the album became a commercial success in Denmark, selling more copies than Helpyourselfish by over 50%. The European tour was again a big success, and the band felt their live performances were so strong they documented the tour with the double CD live album, Psychopatico. This release would also mark the final appearance of Peter Lundholm Jensen with the band, as Peter opted to retire from the music industry in 1999. The band replaced Jensen with Laust Sonne. Initially Laust was reluctant to join the band, but eventually they made him a deal he simply couldn’t refuse. This remains D:A:D’s only major line up change in their near 40 year career!

In 2002 D:A:D released the album Soft Dogs, the record received a six out of six star review in the Danish music magazine, Gaffa. The album has sold over 65 000 units in Denmark alone reaching number 1 on the Danish albums charts and 54 on the Swedish album charts. This success was followed with Scare Yourself in 2005, which similarly reached number 1 in Denmark, number 42 in Sweden and 21 in Finalnd. It is certified platinum in Denmark for sales in excess of 40 000 units. 2008 saw the release of Monster Philosophy, produced by Jon “Joshua” Schumann. Monster Philosophy followed in the pattern of the previous records, again reaching number 1 in Denmark.

D:A:D released the strangely titled, DIC·NII·LAN·DAFT·ERD·ARK in 2011. While the album reached number 2 in Denmark, it was nominated for Danish Rock release of the Year at the Danish Music Awards in 2012. The album reached 32 in Sweden and charted in Germany.

Despite constant touring, D:A:D took a hiatus from releasing studio albums between 2011 and 2019. 2019 the band released A Prayer For The Loud, which also saw the band reclaim the top of the Danish charts. In a review for hardrockhave.net, Derric Miller wrote “D.A.D. never stopped growing as artists, musicians, and songwriters. A Prayer for the Loud answers prayers we might not have even know we had.” While touring plans for the record were derailed by the pandemic, the band did return to Australia once borders opened up in 2022 – marking their first Australian tour in thirty two years. Troy Culpan reviewed the Sydney performance for maytherockbewithyou.com, describing it as “… the surprise show of the year.”

In 2024 to celebrate their 40th anniversary as a band, D:A:D go their own exhibit at the National Museum of Denmark! Never ones to stay looking to the past, D:A:D also released their 13th studio album, Speed of Darkness which they promoted with a major festival run of 24 concerts throughout Europe including a sold out show at the Royal Arena in Denmark.

Over the last 20 years, D:A:D have continued a consistent schedule of touring and recording. With the band performing to thousands of fans, annually during the European summer festival season, the live chemistry of D:A:D is unparalleled. Whether in clubs, arenas or outdoor festivals, D:A:D’s live show is sure to enthrall fans and newcomers alike – especially with this career encompassing 40th Anniversary setlist! This is truly a once in a generation tour for Australian fans who will finally get to witness what European audiences have indulged in for the last three decades.