With a backdrop of the agitated ocean and sky, the band took the stage to play its unique amalgamation of what has been described (often simultaneously) as mystical, neo-classical, gothic, new age, world music.

What we heard was a venerable orchestration of primal emotions. What we felt was a musical manifestation of swirling spirits.

This band has tremendous passion for the music that they perform together, and it shows.

The setting was perfect. It was a dark evening with turbulent steamy weather. From the open-air venue we could see the clouds whisking across Boston's skyline. The gauzy canvas of the tent overhead danced in the wind allowing a view of lights from planes taking off and boats drifting by.

We were in Boston in 1996; but, hypnotized by the transcendent rhythms and sounds borrowed from so many times and cultures, we could have been anywhere or nowhere.

The dedicated crowd recognized each song from the first phrase, and a black-garbed group danced like maenads to the left of the stage.

Changing instruments between each number, the band drew heavily from its latest release Spiritchaser and 1994's Toward the Within. Primal rhythms resounded from a multitude of exotic percussion instruments including congas, the Egyptian Darabukka, and the Bodhran.

Lisa Gerrard's voice was magnificent as she sang with operatic strength and range in several languages. She stood onstage alone for her solo performance of "Sanvean" from her 1995 solo album The Mirror Pool and DCD's Toward the Within.

Brendan Perry's vocals were resonant and clear. Somberly, he sang Toward the Within's "American Dreaming" with its incisive lyrics "We've been too long American Dreaming. I think we've all lost the way."

Self-taught in classical Gregorian, medieval, chamber and baroque styles, founding members Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry also borrow from traditional Irish, Indian, Turkish, African, and Native American music on the nine albums they have recorded as Dead Can Dance. During the fifteen years they have worked together, Gerrard and Perry have created a constantly-evolving genuinely eclectic sound.

Though the audience gave an enthusiastic standing ovation, Perry and the band reclaimed the stage for a short, anti-climactic encore without Lisa Gerrard. Afterward, he spoke into the microphone (for the only time during the show) and explained that due to the tremendous humidity Gerrard was unable to return to the stage.