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This was back in the day and as I travel
to the venue I reflect on this memory and wonder to myself
if two years, many, many gigs, tours of America, Europe and
Japan and meteoric success
have made the live beast any less of an evil for our BOY?
I arrive at the venue a little late (well
it is a Monday). Expecting to see a half full hall humoring
the support band I am shocked to find BDB and band in full
swing. I check my watch to make sure it hasn't stopped. Shit.
What's going on? It's only 9.10pm and it feels like the show
is in full flow.
At the end of the first track I catch "River, Sea, Ocean"
Damon announces "that's the end of the first set, cheers,
see you in a bit". I consult the nearest friendly looking
student who informs me I have just missed the first set which
started at 8.30. Bollocks, no one told me about this, I check
my ticket it says "Badly Drawn Boy + Special Guests"
oh well. I scratch my head at the bar and wonder what's happened
to the support. JD and coke please….ta.
10 minutes later, I have managed to wriggle
my way right into the middle of a packed hall and I'm hanging
around waiting for the second set. The lights dim and unsuspected
to everyone present Peter Kay the stand up comedian/TV writer-actor
slopes over to the microphone. Beams of joy shine across every
face in the audience as they collectively realize a) they
are in for a pure comedy treat and b) that the comedy treat
is an unexpected freebee.
Working a student audience is like cutting butter for any
comedian worth his salt and Peter rapid fires the crowd with
quick, light and tickly-funny one liner's. Within this short
period of time the crowd seem to have forgotten who they came
to see and seem perfectly content to stand and enjoy a funny
man on the top of his game for the rest of his evening. Peter
probably knows this and with respect to his old mate from
Bolton he says his goodbyes leaving the crowd in great spirits
ready for the second set.
The man in the hat returns. The sound on
the evening is great. The vocals are clear as a bell, warm
and rich in tone and have the boom of a now ( through 2 years
hard singing) flawless baritone. The band are tight and dynamic,
wholly locked in on Damon as he takes the mood and volume
of each song up and down to best suite the lyric and subject.
"This next song is a suicide note from a pregnant mother
to her unborn child" he announces. People are enjoying
the spectacle of a great songwriter on a roll coupled with
the free Peter Kay taster but while they are in the presence
of BDB it is almost impossible to ignore the air of seriousness
emanating from the stage. He takes his work to heart and that's
why it is so bloody good.
Although, it's not all furrowed brows. "This
is my favorite song off the new record. I am really proud
of it and it's called How?" As with most performing artist
on tour. You tend to see faces light up when they are playing
songs they want to not the ones the audience want.
We were treated to a beautiful rendition
of How followed by current single "You were right"
and other outstanding new album material such as "The
further I slide" and "Bedside story" cut and
pasted against old classics.
To further lighten the spirit of the night
BDB opened the final song by picking out a girl in the audience
and singing the song to her. Included in the lyrics were sentences
such as "you there in the white, yer you with the boyfriend
on your arm, come to Badly Drawn Boy, I need you, I have always
loved you, my life is cold without you." This amused
the audience. The build up was great and the crescendo came
in the shape of "Pissing in the wind" the roof was
raised and the night was complete.
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