David Gray is the sort of musician who just quietly gets on with the business of writing and performing without ever really getting the credit he deserves.
The wobbly-headed-folk-tinged wonder may have only ever had two top ten hits (‘Babylon’ in 2000 and ‘The One I Love’ in 2005), but the quality of songs performed on his latest ‘Greatest Hits’ tour only serves to underline his status as the UK’s #1 singer songwriter.
Gray begins each set with a number of acoustic tracks before moving on to the full band numbers, almost as a nod to his folk beginnings.
‘Babylon’ was dispensed with in this opening section – in good style with a nice crowd sing-a-long – however it was not until the epic ‘Sail Away’ that things really started to liven up.
Throughout the performance Gray’s stage manner was vaguely reminiscent of a singing Jack Dee (grumpy but in an endearing way), only really pausing between songs to mock a man who kept shouting random compliments during the quiet bits.
In many ways perhaps the most surprising aspect of Gray’s set was a tendency towards experimentation which saw a number of tracks stretch well over their regular length.
‘Lately’ from 2005’s ‘Life In Slow Motion’ probably didn’t deserve the ten minute treatment – the three or so minutes of the original track being more than enough – however the version of ‘Nightblindness’ performed in the encore was just astonishing.
Indeed the final third of the set (‘Nightblindness’, ‘Be Mine’ and ‘The Other Side in particular) showed Gray to have a real flair in terms of arrangement, which given the sometimes mundane production on the bulk of his recordings was very welcome.
Overall though, the whole show just had the feeling of top pro performing right at the top of this game. I got home and immediately had to listen to the CDs – you can’t get better than that.
Next up for Gray is a new studio album. If this gig is anything to go by it should be a cracker.
Set:
Shine
Living Room
Babylon
Long Black Veil
From Here You Can Almost See The Sea
You’re The World To Me
Sail Away
Late Night Radio
Slow Motion
Lately
This Year’s Love
The One I Love
Everytime
Hospital Food
Be Mine
The Other Side
Nightblindness
Please Forgive Me
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