Tuesday, March 11, 2008
David Gray - Victoria Theatre, Halifax
By Jayne Sheridan
The Halifax Courier
DAVID Gray walked on stage, smiled and said "This is the first time I've ever played Halifax."
Yet he quickly settled in, launching into If the World's Just a Living Room, I'm in the Hall and transformed his signature song Babylon into a rousing community singalong.
His Greatest Hits tour delivered a new collection of chart entries mixed with a back catalogue spanning almost a decade. Sensitiv-ity and romance contrasted with crowd-pleasing muscular rock chords.
He's a versatile figure with songs embracing everything from Brit-folk to lush harmonic pop, spare piano ballads to bluesy R&B, even a hint of skiffle in a diverse set.
The whole is delivered with professional aplomb: fine musicianship, stunning lighting, sets and sculpted sound, all showing off Gray's emotional delivery to great effect.
Yet for all his prolific output and multi-million sales, Gray has never quite reached the premier league of singer-songwriters.
He's up around the fringes of the championship play-offs, to be honest. Yet in a weekend that saw sporting giant-killing back in fashion, maybe that's not such a bad place to be.
Friday, March 07, 2008
David Gray @ Apollo
By Stuart Greer
The Manchester Evening News
It's only when the lights came up at the Apollo that I truly took in the eclectic mix of fans willing to brave this chilly Manchester night to see Mr Gray's latest return to the city.
Rather than couples cuddling in the dark there were portly tattooed 30-somethings who wouldn't look out of place on the football terraces, sons with their mums, grans with their daughters and teenagers who seemingly took a wrong turn on their way to a My Chemical Romance gig.
But then again, it all makes perfect sense. David Gray's appeal is the common musical ground for so many, and they're all very content to be part of it.
Critics may sneer and call him middle-of-the-road, but who cares. From the moment Gray launches, somewhat surprisingly, into Shine, from his 1993 debut, until the closing chord of You're The World To Me, fans are treated to a Greatest Hits tour that does exactly what it says on the tin. And more.
Innate
One after the other Gray's innate ability as a songsmith permeates the crowd.
He dishes out oldies like Living Room and builds a crescendo on classic sing-alongs like Babylon and Sail Away, before bringing us up to date with his bleak but beautiful ballads Slow Motion and From Here You Can Almost See The Sea.
But it’s the White Ladder favourites, like the glorious This Year's Love and a brilliant live reworking of Please Forgive Me, that get the biggest response.
Effortlessly
A sharp-suited Gray commands both guitar and piano effortlessly, sometimes stealing the show alone, and other times being swept away by his superb, enthusiastic and equally sharp-suited band.
It's been 15 years since Gray began carving out his place as a mainstay of the brit-folk movement, but it wasn't until the unstoppable White Ladder 1999 that he got the commercial equivalent to what folk lovers had been saying from the start.
Gray's appeal is simple: the songs have both depth and immediacy. Whether you've had your heart caressed, broken, resuscitated, stamped upon, or ignored, there's a lyric that rings true and a song that speaks directly to you.
While not oozing personality and bantering with the crowd Gray lets the music do the talking with no frills, no pretence, first-clenching performance.
Middle of the road? Maybe. Reliable more than innovative? Probably. A British talent to be cherished? Definitely.
Thursday, March 06, 2008
David Gray Charms City Hall
By Hollie Cartwright
Shefbase.com
I have never been to a venue like City Hall to see a gig before. Sat down, (albeit on a comfy seat) and expected to be a passive spectator without a hint that there should be any kind of crowd participation or movement is really not my cup of tea. Having said that, it’s perfect for the crowd assembled tonight, and with a mean age of around 40, I was pretty much the youngest person there.
Walking on stage looking dapper in all black, David Gray enters to an appreciative cheer from the audience. He stands alone, with his guitar and a spot light. Not opting for an elaborate and expensive set of lights and extravagant onstage props. Choosing instead to strip everything down to a bare minimum, he opens proceedings and tonight’s set with ’Shine’ probably one of his oldest songs. It really did live up to its name, his voice clear and crisp so you didn’t miss a single beautiful word, just giving us a taste of what was to come. Three tracks in and crowd favourite ‘Babylon’ begins as the backdrop of the stage turns into myriad tiny twinkling white lights. And during ‘Sail Away’ the music was so powerful and immense that it submerges you in a deep and layered ocean of sound.
One thing that struck me was Gray barely spoke to his audience. At times he would look glum and sing into the microphone like no one was watching and he was having a jam - not playing a gig. As I value interaction with the audience quite highly this did leave me a little cold, especially as there were so many guitar changes, and consequently time for potential interaction and general banter. I was hoping to hear a few anecdotes and a bit more of Gray’s dry sense of humour, but all we got were introductions to songs by their titles. He came across almost shy at times, and it was this that kept my rating at four instead of five out of five. Another thing I found bizarre was that someone with so much gig experience, who wrote the songs he is singing should need to count himself in again after an instrumental section to a song so he comes in at the right point. Someone who has been performing for years, you may expect to have mastered that skill already (or at least not to count out loud).
With a charming rendition of ‘Be Mine’ Gray chooses to amuse the crowd and change his infamous line from ‘Holy Cow’ to ‘Holy Gazelle’. Showing that he’s not afraid to poke fun at himself and take himself too seriously. Ending his main set with majestic ‘The Other Side’ saw a stage bathed in green light, Gray at his piano and a bass so deep it rumbled along the floorboards. Words simply couldn’t describe how good it sounded. It was utterly sublime and the stand out track by an absolute mile. You could shut your eyes and let lyrical waves literally wash over you. Hearing Gray breathing deeply into the microphone as he took a breath made it even more atmospheric.
David Gray is truly one of the best singer/songwriters around today. His voice distinctly his own, and a rare but brilliant talent of making the most ordinary and everyday of subjects into a perfect four minute pop nugget. ‘Late Night Radio’ and ‘Dead In The Water’ were notable absences from the set list, but when drawing from seven albums worth of material there is always going to be some tracks that have to be left out.
As this is the first night of a greatest hits tour it leaves you wondering if this is the beginning of the end for Gray, if it is, then it truly is a loss to the music world. But at least by the lucky people hear tonight he would leave by a standing ovation.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Dubai Is Like Watching Time-Lapse Photography
By Adrian Murphy
David Gray performed last night at the Dubai Jazz Festival in Media City. This headline performance comes in the middle of a current tour of the United Kingdom.
He took time out after his sound check on Friday to speak to Emirates Business about his personal business philosophy and his impressions of Dubai.
You have sold millions of albums around the world and are a major success story in the music industry. Where do you invest your money?
I haven’t widely invested. I have my own property in London with a place in the country. I have also bought a recording studio.
Accountants tell me about what I should do when the money starts pouring in, but it never appeals to me. I haven’t taken any impulsive moves to keep the taxman at bay and I haven’t bought a Ferrari yet either.
I have my house in London but I don’t think I’ll be buying in Dubai as it’s too far to fly. Also, I like the rubbish weather [at home].
What advice would you give to aspiring musicians who are starting out in the industry?
Just do it. If they are good then doors will open. Computers nowadays are democratising making music - people can make songs in their home. You don’t have to spend huge amounts of money, just maybe a bit on the production.
Radiohead made headlines around the world when they released their most recent album online before selling it in the shops.
Is this the way forward for musicians?
They did something very clever as they wanted to make as much commercial success as they could. Because it’s Radiohead, fans seized the idea and they served a demand.
But I don’t believe the internet is going to take over things. You still need the man to be here singing. I don’t do much with my Website – it’s enough to do the music.
Your fourth album, White Ladder, was a massive success. How did you market that?
Marketing is a mystery to me, and there is no magic touch that can make it happen. When I look at White Ladder and consider the mountain we had to climb to get there it took a ludicrous amount of self belief, which made it all the more glorious.
Where did your interest in music come from?
When I was growing up in a valley in Wales I didn’t have a radio. I discovered things by word of mouth from friends. My love of music was born through the need for an artistic process.
Artists are like tourists – we watch and feel things, we look at what is going on in the street, what has happened to you or your friends. You get inspired by things. My influences were Bob Dylan, the Specials and The Cure.
I have not got an alter ego. Pop music is a myth but I have chosen a path where I am myself.
You recently changed your band members. What was the reason?
It was something that needed to be done as some of the band members were fading out. I kept bassist Robbie as he was fading in at the time.
We are now at 100 per cent. The problem was we’re touring a lot, sitting at the back of a bus, and it distracts some people. I knew when we recorded Life in Slow Motion, that things were changing. I started out on my own and I needed to do it. I don’t know why I am so compelled but I am.
You career is still on an upward curve but last year you released a greatest hits album. Was this the right time to do so?
I never really wanted to release a greatest hits album. But when I thought about it, a lot of the music I got into such as Marvin Gaye and even Bob Marley was through greatest hits albums, so it was with this in mind.
What is your perception of Dubai? Is it different to how you imagined?
It’s the biggest construction site I have ever seen – it’s breathtaking. It’s like watching time-lapse photography where a city is formed overnight. I have read many books about this area, including Sir Wilfred Thesiger, and my mind is always thinking of the ancient Arab world and the desert, but it doesn’t look like I’ll get to see that this time.
David Gray, Singer/Songwriter
Gray was born in 1968 in Sale, Greater Manchester. His mix of rock, pop and folk music has seen him rise to fame in the past decade.
Although he released his first studio album in 1993, it was the release of White Ladder in 1999 that propelled him on to the world stage. Songs such as Babylon, This Year’s Love and Please Forgive Me from the album are now synonymous with Gray’s work.
White Ladder has sold more than six million copies around the world and led to two more UK chart-topping albums – A New Day At Midnight and Life in Slow Motion.
In March 2007, Gray released the compilation album Shine: The Best of the Early Years and this was followed later that year by a greatest hits album. Gray is currently working on a new album, which is scheduled to be released sometime this year.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Caught Live: DAVID GRAY at London Roundhouse
By Jody Thompson
The Mirror
MULTI-MILLIONAIRE singer-songwriter David Gray is a very unassuming man.
Despite the fact he can probably paper his loo ceiling with five pound notes on a whim, he's always been the bloke next door (albeit a wobble-headed nodding-dogesque one) that you'd love to buy a pint for.
But at the last of his three sold-out shows at Camden's showcase venue, he astounded. The man might have shot to fame with the acoustically catchy, honest and affecting single Babylon back in 1998, but what really made him own this stage this night was his embrace of a full-on arena experience.
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David has grown into a proper rock phenomenon. Yes, his delicate singersongwriter skills are still there for which he's become famous, but at times he came on like The Eagles, Bruce Springsteen and Coldplay combined. Frankly, Keane and James Blunt can go do one.
Every song, backed by an expert band of guitar, keyboard and a show-off who could play bass and double bass, was rightly deemed a mobile phone picture experience from the young, old and very fashionably mixed crowd, who were packed to the rafters.
I should know, I was ducking my head in the cheap seats to avoid a black eye all night. To that end, Ruarri Joseph was a fine support for a man who sets so much store by keeping the song the star. Ruarri got the crowd clapping and singing along to the acapella title track to his album Tales of Grime and Grit. It was the perfect set-up for David Gray classics from his new Greatest Hits album such as This Year's Love, Please Forgive Me and Sail Away.
But the point was that, despite his intelligent phrasing and deft songwriting, all David's songs rocked. When he was at the piano tinkling up a storm, when he urged the crowd to clap along like a deranged Prince, when, goddamit, he appeared to be a sex god with a widow's peak in an all-black suit, the crowd hung on his every movement.
Gray really is the new black.
SET LIST - Shine
- Ain't No Love
- Long Distance
- Babylon
- Leaving
- Long Black Veil
- World To Me
- Sail Away
- The One I Love
- Life In Slow Motion
- Everything
- This Year's Love
- Late Night Radio
- Hospital Food
- Destroyer
- Be Mine
- Meet Me On The
- Other Side
- Night Blindness
- Please Forgive Me
Monday, November 19, 2007
The More Gray Changes, The More He Stays The Same
By Shilpa Ganatra
Independant.ie
It's been a decade since David Gray's wobbly head rose to stardom as he did, when he spearheaded the international singer/songwriter movement with 'White Ladder'.
It's still there, shaking about in all its near-detached glory, because, however odd it may appear to his audiences, Gray is not a man to change his craft for anyone but himself -- and that's exactly the theme of this show.
Having stood his ground through the dance era and the Britpop phenomenon, to the new hybrid of the two, he's now waved goodbye to his record company and touring band.
Tonight, we're saying hello to the new musicians. And even though, with matching suits and receding hairlines, the foursome may look like post-work accountants, they're fierce performers and boost David's show which, with hindsight, was needed.
The man himself is on top form in all respects. He looks dapper in designer stubble, a black shirt and suit and a smile on his face that only fades when his mind's on the music.
The square shape and low ceilings of the venue give a much more intimate feel than his last visit at The Point, allowing him to chat with the crowd as with old friends.
But when he sings, it's as if his voice becomes sentient, leaving his body as a mere conduit.
Aided by crystal-clear sound, he throws out phenomenal notes, effortlessly hitting each one while displaying a grittiness not evident on record.
'The One I Love' is as perfect a performance as he's likely to get, and 'Late Night Radio' proves that his set isn't dictated by his new Greatest Hits CD.
From the eeriness of 'The Other Side' to the mischievous joy of closer 'Please Forgive Me', each song is perfectly crafted within itself, not claiming to be any more than honest, heartfelt guitar or piano-based songs, but capturing an emotion so perfectly and simply it's an honour to witness.
Haircuts, peers and colleagues will come and go, but that is David Gray's constant.
