The New Deal to Break Up After 2011 - Spinner

Chris Paul

Canadian live-electronic masterminds theNew Dealare throwing in the towel after a dozen years performing organic, heavily improvised, live house music. The trio -- which used real drums, a real bass and actual keyboards -- formed in Toronto in 1998 and went on to become featured performers at such major festivals asBonnarooandLangerado. Their music often sounded as though it was spit out by a computer because of its intricacy matched with its razor-sharp precision, but even the keyboard loops were not loops -- everything was performed live and often composed on the spot.

Despite a strong, award-winning start at the turn of the century, the band has been touring less and less in recent years and their growth appeared to have stagnated. While their breakup is heartbreaking to fans, it didn't come as a total surprise."It's been coming over the last year or so,"bassist Dan Kurtz tells Spinner."The pressure of our own schedules, and the increased bureaucratic difficulties involved with being a foreign band playing in the USA, have made it really hard to tour the way we do."

Despite a brief romance with Jive Electro Records, the New Deal were never able to capitalize on their true crossover potential. They did capture the hearts of the jam band community right out of the gate, becoming instant regulars at the famed Wetlands and true favorites of the festival circuit but, in terms of a more mainstream audience, they were ahead of their time. And while the market finally appears ripe for their unique style, the band's time is up.

"Our individual lives have taken very different paths with family, living abroad and other various projects,"reads a prepared statement from the group."We have come to a point where the time and commitment that it takes to maintain our band at its best is no longer possible. As a group, we've never been known to go halfway, so we have decided to end things with a great run of summer and fall shows that we hope to be the best yet."

That's certainly respectable. Fans will have a chance to catch the New Deal as they perform their final victory lap this summer and fall -- the band hasn't picked an exact end date yet, but they do plan to go out on a high note and hit all their favorite places one more time, through the end of 2011. Current dates include a run of shows with OTT, including a stop at Terminal 5 in New York on May 7. The band will perform at the iconic Red Rocks just outside Denver on July 2 and will hit a full slate of festivals includingElectric Forest(Rothbury, Mich., July 1),Wakarusa(Ozark, Ark., June 3) andMountain Jam(Hunter, N.Y., June 4).

And don't think that we've heard the last from these guys, individually. While Kurtz says the band hasn't planned their closing ceremonies yet, they'll hardly be celebrating after the final curtain call."I think we have always felt that playing the New Deal shows ARE the vacation, so I doubt we'll be taking a holiday after the last show,"he tells Spinner."We haven't made any plans together yet, but we're not sure exactly when or where the last show will be, so we've still got some time to figure it out."

Catch 'em while you can, kids.

Watch the New Deal Perform 'Technobeam' Live in 2008


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