Blemished wrote:Hello all - first post...and very sad to say I have to express deep disappointment at the Festival Hall concert and wondered how others felt?
To me it was an unwelcome return to the lounge-lizard sound of the E&N tour and had none of the spine-tingling atmosphere of the Blemish tour for example.
This had nothing to do with David's performance - his voice was as stunning as ever and guitar playing immaculate.
Rather I think the arrangements are the real problem, as well as the excessive use of medleys which served to emphasise the monotony of pace/key.
For example, Fire in the Forest/Ghosts/Brilliant Trees were absolutely ruined by adding drums - I was crawling in my seat, and quite upset. I kept wishing I could block out the other instruments because what David was playing on his own was far more affecting. So while Steve's drumming was sometimes sublime (Before the Bullfight), frequently it was intrusive. Lowe and Watanabe seemed undistinguished (the latter butchered Mother & Child) and flutes (Travis) should not be allowed anywhere near this material!
The band/sound worked far better on the Nine Horses material and I agree with those who have suggested that David is, in essence and understandably, bored of the older material. This was obvious in the constant embellishment around the main vocal line.
The atmosphere was very muted and I think it was because of the way that older material that people really wanted to hear (Nostalgia, Waterfront, Brilliant Trees) was presented. I was very close to the front and I do think he picked up on the level of discomfort.
I really hope he returns to the more experimental avenues he's been exploring and does tour new material in this vein as I hate to think this will be the way he exits the stage side of things.
On a more positive note, it was good to see him looking well and with voice in fine fettle. The tour book is a thing of beauty and the CD great - I had to go home and play the excellent 'The World Is Everything' many times to remind myself how gifted and enthralling a composer/singer David is and that one off-night does not alter things.
Sorry if this a wet blanket post - it's the price of the high expectations and emotions that David's amazing music creates - hopefully aspects of the set will evolve as the tour proceeds! Steve's new album sounds really promising and I can't wait for the new solo album next year (fingers crossed).
That's a pretty good summary for the Birmingham show too.
The set list varied little from what has been listed for earlier shows before. After some initial sound adjustment following the first track, his voice sounded very good and he seemed generally content on stage, gazing around and smiling and the audience were warm and welcoming.
But whilst Steve Jansen's touch couldn't be faulted and was truly exqusite at times, the addition of drum backing and David's limited guitar detracted from some of the older material (Ghosts and Brilliant Trees were, if not murdered, then certainly mugged) and meant the pace never altered or varied as much, and could have seemed rather boring to the less patient or understanding.
It was also noticeable how low the bass and piano were in the mix which meant that, from where I was sitting, it sounded rather flat at times with Steve's drums dominating and Keith Lowe lost in the background.
I guess when you are used to such a varied mix of textures on record, there are obviously limits to what you can achieve with a rather conventional "band" but it's along way form the "Shamans" band of yore and it's a great pity the piano wasn't used to better effect on something like Laughter & Forgetting or Nightporter where some simple solo piano accompaniement would have provided a real shift in the mood and tempo, and perhaps allowed a further change of direction with something more upbeat and diverse.
It's fair to say that the Steve Jansen's piece got a polite reception - a few sitting near me left at that point - and the hunger for older pieces - Red Guitar, Nightporter - was obvious at the end during the encores where David acknowledged the various "requests" from the crowd.
A good show but Steve and David dominated and the others never really seemed quite up to it in my opinion but it might have just been the sound on the night.
But I enjoyed it anyway and besides, it's his tour and material so who am I to argue...
