By: Jon Behm
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Damon Gough - Photo by Jon Behm
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Last Sunday night the floorboards of the Fine Line Music Café took a far gentler beating than the whiskey and sweat thrashing of the previous night’s Gaelic Storm show. Not that Badly Drawn Boy (aka Damon Gough) didn’t rock the house, he just did it in a far more subdued manner than his colleagues from across the Irish Sea.
Those who came to hear the man, dubbed “one of the finest songwriters of his generation” by NME, did not leave disappointed for want of more material. Damon and his backing band graced us with over twenty songs, a few rambling stories and even one hilarious article about the gods of rock from The Onion. The sometimes rocking, sometimes folksy group played a set that was as diverse as it was long.
Though the show started out strong, with an energetic Gough grinning and posing for the cameras, the energy was not sustained all the way through. Part of this was due to the sheer length of the set, and partly due to Gough’s unfamiliarity with some of the newer songs from his latest EP, Born in the UK. During a few of the tunes, he had to resort to reading his lyrics from a music stand.
Standouts from the first half of the show included Gough’s most famous work; “Once Around The Block,” the heart rending “A Minor Incident” from the About a Boy soundtrack and the Boss influenced singles from his most recent album, “Nothing’s Gonna Change Your Mind” and “Born in the UK.”
Though it was obvious that most of the audience felt nothing but pure adoration for him, it wasn’t until the latter half of the show when Gough really started to reciprocate the love. He told us more than once that it was a great audience that could truly make or break a show. By the time he reached the magnificent “You Were Right” towards the later hours of the night, one could tell that he was pleased by his reception at the Fine Line. (This song was a somewhat bittersweet treat as a group of obnoxious women from the balcony had requested it in shouts so many times that I was almost hoping they wouldn’t be gratified.)
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Damon Gough - Photo by Jon Behm
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The real crescendo came at the very finish, with great energy and a rousing four-song encore. Starting with the catchy “Fall in a River,” Gough really began to let loose. He romped around the set, serenaded the women at the front of the stage and posed like some kind of guitar rock god out of his hometown of Manchester’s earlier days. At one point he threw his mic stand, which coincidentally hit me (not that I minded) and started rousing the crowd with the microphone in hand, getting close enough to shake hands and give high fives.
The end of the show can only be described as a harmonious rock-out with artist and audience in complete bliss of mutual appreciation. The soulful “Pissing in the Wind” and a brilliant rendition of Journey’s (yes, Journey) “Don’t Stop Believing” were the perfect release after the band’s hours of holding back. While Gough was crooning out, “I want something. Will settle for nothing…,” I couldn’t help but feel that the audience felt the same way. I think many of us already loved the band enough to appreciate whatever Gough deemed to give us. He is the kind of enigmatic artist that you want to hear, even if he decides to play an entire set of Chumbawamba B-Sides. Luckily, I think in this case, most fans’ expectations were completely validated in the magnificent culmination of the show.
If a rock show is like sex, then the Badly Drawn Boy production was like a couple of inexperienced kids first getting it on. You are both really into it, but are careful not to be too obvious about it. You really enjoy the hours of exploratory foreplay, but are never really sure if it is going anywhere. Then, finally somebody makes the move. The payoff is immediate, unexpected and joyous. Afterwards, you are not completely sure what happened, but in the end everyone walks away glowing just a little bit.
Location Info:
Fine Line Music Café
Artist Info: Badly Drawn Boy
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