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Badly
Drawn Boy @ Royal Festival Hall, London, 6 August
2004
Published:
musicOMH,
August 2004
Original
article:
http://www.musicomh.com/music/gigs/badly-drawn-boy-3.htm
When
Badly Drawn Boy shuffles onto the stage to rapturous applause
and sits spotlighted at the piano, the most noticeable thing
is his choice of summer outfit. Sat under the hot lights,
with a long blanket of hair and shaggy beard he has decided
to opt for a trademark thick wooly hat and huge coat while
it is 30°C+ outside and even warmer still in the clammy
confines of the Royal Festival Hall. Why is anybody's guess,
but it may explain his bout of stage-rage as he plays latest
album One Plus One Is One in sequence from beginning to
end.
Taking
us from the fluted title track opener through the Beatles-like
Easy Love to the guitar and strings of This Is That New
Song, Badly Drawn Boy, aka Damon Gough, ploughs through
his new material methodically but it is not long before
the strain of such a restrictive approach starts to take
its toll. During the opening bars of Another Devil Dies
he bursts out laughing and has to start all over again,
composing himself before continuing with Elizabethan-flavoured
harpsichord instrumental, The Blossoms, and recent single,
Year Of The Rat.
Four
Leaf Clover, however, sees the Mercury Music Award winner
storm off the stage returning shortly after with a sunflower
prop and an insult for one of his bandmates, and when it
comes to Logic Of A Friend he once again stops proceedings
to shout, "Start it again, f*** it! No vocals! It's
my fault isn't it?!". It is unclear whether this is
perfectionism or merely a childish tantrum but he confides
"I knew playing the whole album in sequence may be
a problem" before playing off-kilter lullaby, Life
Turned Upside Down. Gough makes it through the pumping,
knees-up piano of Takes The Glory and the peaks, troughs
and messy crescendo of Holy Grail to the end of the album
and to the interval, clearly relieved his ordeal is over.
Returning
to the stage the 'Boy seems far more relaxed and apologises
for his stroppiness saying: "That's the first time
I've ever played an album in its entirety and I don't think
I will again". Allowing himself the freedom to skip
through his back catalogue seems a liberating experience
and there is far more joy and spontaneity to his performance
as he plays B-side Don't Ask Me I'm Only The President alongside
hits Silent Sigh, Once Around The Block and The Shining.
Though
seemingly happier than before, towards the end of the set
he slips into a cathartic monologue making statements like
"I never wanted to be on stage", "Sometimes
I f***ing hate myself" and "No one can criticise
my show any more". This bizarre mix of arrogance, self-belief
and self-loathing thankfully ends when a big bass riff leads
us into an excellent rendition of Fall In A River, picking
the guitar (and himself) up once again. The set closer comes
courtesy of the warm emotive strings of torch song How?,
the lyrics "How can I give you the answers you need
when all I possess is melody?" summing up the night
and Gough perfectly.
Narrowly
avoiding becoming Badly Drawn-out Boy during this extended
set, Gough's natural talent and excellent song-writing skills
shine brightly enough to make up for his sometimes abrasive
and petulant character. Whether or not you like Damon Gough
the person you have to admire Damon Gough the wordsmith,
gifted with the ability to find the perfect, intricate arrangements
to hang his poetic love-filled tales on, whether they be
soft and sweet or rough and rocky. You have to take your
hat off to him.
- Ian Roullier, 08/2004 |