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The Halifax Courier: David Gray - Victoria Theatre, Halifax
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
By Jayne Sheridan
March 11, 2008
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.
