So, H & I went to the David Gray show last night, and it was exquisite.
Sublime, really.
The man has some serious pipes. And lots of crazy instruments to go along with them.
Initially I was less than impressed with his latest album, Life in Slow Motion, but it sounded much better live. "Lately" was an especially gorgeous selection.
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Setlist:
From Life in Slow Motion: Alibi, Lately, Hospital Food, The One I Love, Slow Motion, Ain't No Love, Now and Always, Nos Da Cariad, and I think From Here You Can Almost See the Sea.
From A New Day at Midnight: Long Distance Call, Freedom
From White Ladder: Sail Away, Please Forgive Me, Silver Lining, This Year's Love, my favorite WL tune My Oh My, and to everyone's surprise, Babylon! I was glad he played it, because despite the unfortunate fact that it is the only David Gray song many people know, it is still a fabulous song.
From A Century Ends: Shine
New song: Alive
Cover (Tim Buckley): Song to the Siren
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I was enraptured by "Song to the Siren." The entire room sat slack-jawed and still. It was one of the most beautiful performances I've ever heard. I can't even explain how much I loved it.
All in all it was a fantastic show. It started off a little slow as it seemed he was only going to play Life in Slow Motion songs (with a little "Sail Away" thrown in...guh). It was interesting; he was so low-key but was able to sort of reel us all in. He was affable, but didn't even talk, hardly: just a straight set of song after song with lots of mid-song instrument-switching.
I'll let Hannah discuss the drummer, and suffice it to say here that if at any time I was too caught up in the David Gray experience, I could peek over at the drummer's antics and have a little giggle.
Other non-music-related details: everyone wore black suits, except the lone lady cellist in her checkered gown, and the strange and tipsy drummer in his open red Hawaiian shirt and white chinos. The lighting and other visual stuff was great and blended well with the music. The venue was cozy (Kingsbury Hall) and the audience was pretty low-key as well, with the occasional "I'm lettin' loose!" crazy dancer.
The set was so fabulous, I wasn't even sad that he didn't play anything from Flesh, one of my fave albums of all time and the source of gems like "New Horizon," "The Light," "Lullaby," and "Coming Down."
I was sad, however, when the show ended. He didn't disappoint with an encore of 5 or 6 songs, among which were a solo acoustic "Shine," an ethereal "Song to the Siren," and a jamming "Babylon." I could have sat there all night and just watched and listened. I was also sad that Matt was not there to witness the loveliness with us, but I was glad Hannah and I could have a little moment.
Hannah and I agreed: DG's voice = beauty.
= Love, embodied.
/gush
5 comments:
nice.
so m.keith - were you bummed you missed the show?
sounds like you enjoyed the show eliza and hannah.
I'm pretty sure Matt wasn't bummed about missing the show.
I think he just felt bad for my comment-less post.
David Gray was amazing here in So Cal. Thanks for your review. It was fun to look forward to these things and I felt educated going into the show.
Highlight of the Night - Watching Security Guards escort drunk dancers back to their seats.
Fave Performance - Please Forgive Me. It made everyone rock out, not a song I would peg for that.
Love the Gray.
Nickel, I'm so glad that you went and LOVED.
Now that you mention it, everyone was rocking out to PFM in Salt Lake too. Audience singing, "Every time I look at you," etc. His drummer is awesome and that song has lots of drumming in it.
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