Gray
was in no mood to warm-up the crowd slowly and had us buzzing early on
when he performed his hit Sail Away as early as the second song. This
was clearly Gray showing his intent on delivering a set that would
thrill the audience as it contained many of the fans favourites as well
as some new material.
The new stuff was a mix of fast and slow tracks that delighted his fans and promised much from his forthcoming album.
Mobiles at ten paces
Fugitive
was the first new track to be played and the crowd lapped it up.
However the track that is sure to become a new favourite was Jackdaw
which is an upbeat piece played on his piano.
Gray himself
clearly enjoyed playing it and would no doubt have been pleased to see
so many of the audience dancing along. The title track of the album
Draw The Line also had its debut and was another up-tempo track on his
signature acoustic guitar.
Throughout his one hour and forty five
minute set, Gray interacted with the audience and delivered some of his
observations about playing on the Suffolk- Norfolk border. He wondered
if the dwellers from either side are locked in a bitter battle, deep in
the trees over which is the superior county.
The audience were
also treated to a spontaneous track all about the closure of the Little
Chef on the A11, clearly a stop-off point for Gray on his visits to the
area, as he sang of how he will miss the rubbish tea. However when all
the silliness and banter was done, he performed powerful renditions of
his hit tracks.
Babylon's still burning
Babylon was the
next one to have the crowd singing along and that was performed with
the freshness of a brand new song. Gray looked as if he still loves
performing live, revelling in the spotlight and applauding the audience
back after nearly every song.
As the evening turned slightly chilly, the next treat was This Year's Love and once again the crowd sang back every word.
Remembering the Little Chef
The
set wasn't without its difficulties though. Early on Gray forgot the
words to one of his tracks, but managed to show great humour, saying he
was just breaking down the boundaries between performer and fans,
claiming that he wasn't god-like, as many in the crowd would have
thought.
The best however was saved for last. Please
Forgive Me was a lighter-waving moment, or in the technical age, a
mobile phone-waving moment.
In the darkness of the forest, this provided a very fitting finale and the crowd left wanting more.
(David
Gray was at the Thetford Forest High Lodge Visitor Centre, Santon
Downham on Friday 10 July 2009. This review was a voluntary
contribution from a BBC Suffolk website-user