Gig Report: Damien Rice

Date: Thursday 11 October, 8.30pm
Venue: MEN arena

Face Value: £23.50 plus admin fees

Support Act: Vyvienne Long

Gig buddy: Phil, of course

I must preface this report by saying my expectations were lowered by a number of factors:

1) there was some rather negative feedback on other performances in his tour on Damien's own website forum which stated that he appeared to be going through the motions, ignored the audience and left people annoyed

2) it's in an arena - I prefer smaller venues

3) I noticed people selling tickets on eBay for less than face value and ticketmaster had not sold out - not a good sign

So, that out of the way, we grabbed some overpriced beverages and settle in for the support act, who is the cellist in Damien's band, Vyvienne Long. She's talented and her quirky lyrics from her debut EP 'Birdtalk' are amusing. Additionally she plays 'Random Man on the Motorway' to much enjoyment. It's clear to see why she's a natural choice for support.

Enter Damien for the main act and 2 songs in, not a word of 'hello' from him. Fortunately he breaks his silence soon and is chatty for the rest of the show, musing on how depressing his music is, his Irish upbringing and even taking requests from the arena (which he thinks is much too large). One girl screamed for a track called 'I Remember' which was misheard by Damien as 'La Bamba' and though it was clarified, he obliged with an inpromptu performance of 'La Bamba' anyway. As you can see from the set list below, there was a good mix old and new, with the favourites being: 'Amie', 'Cannonball' and of course no performance would be complete without 'Blower's Daughter', played in the encore which curiously enough finished on 'Cheers Darlin' - delivered part theatre-style after we had been relayed the story behind the song. A perfect way to end a much better than expected performance.

Overall: Seems Damien has been a bit 'hit and miss' on the tour - by his own admission on stage as well he describes himself as sometimes depressed though oddly he believes that this makes a better performance. The Manchester show however was a hit - Damien's incredible voice making the evening out totally worth it. Anyone who was expecting the musical equivalent of a nice cup of tea was in for a shock - Damien and the band rocked out a lot more than I would have expected from hearing both albums. The only downside is the venue - far too large for this type of music. Attendance was 6000 (the arena holds up to 20000) so it felt a bit cavernous.

Setlist:

Delicate

Then Go

Older Chests

Volcano

Me, My Yoke and I

Dogs

Amie

Accidental Babies

La Bamba

I Remember

Coconut Skins

Woman Like A Man

Cannonball

Unplayed Piano

The Blower's Daughter

Sleep Don't Weep

Cheers Darlin'

Rating (out of 5): 4 guitars