Letter from John

On March 23rd to 25th, 2018, we celebrated Dream Catcher’s 20th anniversary, underground…deep underground at the Musée National des Mines de Fer in Rumelange. We were seventy meters below ground and one kilometre into the tunnels of the “Walert” iron ore mine, which was dug between 1891 and 1963.

We didn’t choose this location only for adventurous reasons, or for the challenging logistics or the uniqueness of the atmosphere, but because this site, like so many others in the South of Luxembourg, was the reason why our ancestors had travelled to Luxembourg over a hundred years ago. For labour. Hard labour! The Rech, Falchero, Cavallini... men of the late 19th and early 20th centuries had left their homes in Italy to work in the mines and supply for the families left at home. Families that would eventually follow them years later.

We wanted to pay tribute to them by playing, working at this particular place. We had grown up with stories of these mines, but it wasn’t until we set foot in them that we started to imagine what life must have been like for these men. After spending 5 days underground, not working big machines, but playing our instruments, we were humbled and our respect grew even deeper. One week after the last concert, my lungs were heavy and I was still spitting out red dirt, feeling the effects of being underground, without air or sunshine. I can’t even imagine how hard the labour must have been and how much they must have suffered, always aware that the ground they were digging could collapse on them at any time.

“Live - Under a blood red ground” is a tribute to all these women, men, children and even animals, who worked and sometimes died in the mines of the “Minette”. Our lives, our human rights, our very existence that we sometimes take for granted, were given to us by these people and the sacrifices they made. They are their gifts to us. We should never forget them and be grateful to them.

As we were planning and later rehearsing for these gigs, none of us were really aware of the challenge it would prove to be. We couldn’t predict the buckets full of humidity, mine dust everywhere, weather challenges, and the logistics of getting our gear & crew to the site. From limited power capacity to the train schedule for our audience, the challenges for one venue were close to those for a whole tour.

The setlist was yet another challenge. As we had decided to revisit the T42 era, we ended up with a 3,5 hours set, that proved to be a wee bit too long for the “atmospheric” conditions. We were kindly invited not to play much longer than 1 hour. So we eventually ended up with a… 2,5 hours set that was quite unique.

Our dear friends Remo Cavallini (our in & out DC guitarist), Marc Welfringer (yes, the one from T42) & Laetitia Koener (from Go By Brooks) joined us too to fully take advantage of the new arrangements. While rehearsing the set, we were blown away by some of the new versions, like “Kitty” or “Christmas in July”. As “She dances” had become part of the set anyway, we couldn’t avoid revisiting “Marie-Anne” or “Autumn Leaves”. The concerts were very emotional and intense. The band was very focused, not losing its grip for the unexpected. Some would call it improvising.

Of course, most live favourites made it into the setlist, and still as we looked at the 2,5 hours set, we miss some of the songs. Nevertheless, this live collection is a bearing of witness of Dream Catcher’s Vagabonds Tour, showing a band clearly having fun and enjoying themselves as they share stories and songs.

We’ve added some bootleg Pirate Duck Tape(s) recorded over the last years. The sound quality might not always be the best, but the moments were pure magic. These recordings remind us of our friendship and those good old pirate copies we were chasing as kids.

What you hold in your hands is more than an album, it’s a look back at a career full of raw emotions and laughs, and an homage to our families and the place we call home. We thank you for reading this far, and more importantly for being part of our journey.

Here’s to another 25 years!

John Rech
Dudelange, Luxembourg