Review - The Black Box Theatre, Galway, Ireland
July 26, 1998
2010hrs
David Gray takes to the stage. The set-up is very simple, he plays only two
acoustic guitars himself and is accompanied by a drummer and a keyboardist.
There is no doubting his popularity in Ireland and especially Galway. He roared
into life straight away with a storming version of Living Room and Falling Free,
songs that the crowd knew and loved. Then he introduced an excellant new song
called Sail Away. New Horizon and Debauchery followed and at this stage the
audience was hopping! Everybody seemed to know the lyrics! This performance was
of powerful simplicity. Gray is close to the crowd with just his voice, guitar
and of course the songs. Such songs of eloquence. He then slowed down the
frenetic tempo with songs like Gathering Dust and then two new ones, Heartland
of Mystery and So Far Away. These are songs of sorrow and despair that have been
written and delivered with an obvious powerful passion. As Bob Dylan sang
"behind every beautiful thing, there's been some kind of pain". Never have I
seen an artist with the ability to make each individual in a live audience
reflect upon thier own past/present sorrows and losses with such an intensity.
But you could have heard a pin drop between the lines of these ballads. What are
You, Smile, Silver Lining, and a new one Babylon, all followed in the same vein.
Songs of depressing realism and the audience became slightly subdued. Lead Me
Upstairs, I Can't Make it On My Own, As I am Leaving also followed as we were
watching a man explore his personal life on a very public stage. The experience
was awesome. It seemed to become a communal exploration as the audience became
totally concentrated on the music and the singer. Was there no return?
And then it happened. He turned up the volume on his acoustic and the band
crashed into a rip-roaring version of Late Night Radio. The cheers and applause
from the crowd were deafening. At 2155hrs, the set was finished up with It's All
Over and the three left the stage. But only for as long as it took David to fix
a broken G-string (on the guitar!!). The audince bayed out for more. Slow claps
became fast claps and just at the cresendo out he jumped again! The Light and
(possibly) a new one Say Hello and Wave Goodbye ended the night, with Van
Morrisons Into the Mystic woven into the final song to add an Irish flavour to
the evening!
"That's all folks, I'm fucked out" were his last words to an appreciative crowd.
And so was this writer. This David Gray concert was certainly an emotionally
draining evening for both performer and audience. There is no doubt that David
Gray puts his heart and soul into his music, and gives 110% into his intense
performances. Absolutely brilliant. Not recommended for wimps or Polly-Annas!!!!
This is Galway, Ireland signing out.
Colman
"Work is the curse of the drinking classes"
O. Wilde
Written by Colman Duffy