Badly Drawn Boy, a.k.a. Damon Gough, is celebrating 15 years of his Mercury Prize-winning album The Hour of the Bewilderbeast by doing a string of special gigs throughout the U.K.
Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall on Friday, July 31st, proved to be very sentimental to the singer/musician. There was a warm buzz in the air as young, trendy couples filled the seats in front, followed by a group of old hippies and gangs of lads clutching their beers. The seats filled up pretty quickly, and then the hall fell silent as Badly Drawn Boy was announced onto the stage. He emerged from the wings wearing his famous tea cozy hat, his face beaming, and he instantly broke into the first track, “The Shining”. The room filled with the sound of cheering, strings, beautiful melancholy lyrics and melodies; as the song came a finish, Gough began to cry emotionally and explained how happy he is to be playing in Manchester. He isn’t shy of displaying his true love for the city. His performance remained strong and each song was filled with so much passion. His singing sounds identical to that of the studio production on the album. Perfect. The evening was filled with atmospheric synths, violin, double bass, melodic guitars and sweet, emotional lyrics. Throughout the gig, people shouted out to Gough on stage and he playfully interacted with every single person. One man shouted, “You owe me a fiver Damon… It’s Si from Coventry,” to which Gough replied, “Come and find me after the gig.” He went on to dedicate his beautiful music to his wife and children, a lady named Lindsey who had passed away and finally, Si from Coventry, to which he said, “Si… This one’s for you… You daft twat.”
Gough told the crowd, “I am the Bewilderbeast… A confused human being… That’s why I made this album.”
In the second half of the show, Gough performed some tracks from his other albums. He opens with “A Minor Incident” from his 2002 record, About a Boy. Other songs included “Above You, Below Me”, “Something To Talk About” and “Silent Sigh”. He also performed “I Saw You Walk Away” from his most recent release, It’s What I’m Thinking, Part One: Photographing Snowflakes (QRO review). He finished the spectacular gig with a cover “Thunder Road” by Bruce Springsteen. He stated that it’s a song he has adored from a very young age and Gough performed it stunningly.
Thank you for a fantastic gig!
-Mary Joanna Coogan
