A Night at the Theater

It’s strange enough going to a concert on a Sunday night. The fact that it is Mother’s Day makes it even more confusing. I mean, I feel bad enough that I didn’t spend time with my family this weekend. Now I top it off by hanging out and listening to a band. But hey, it’s Damien Rice. There are certain concerts that provide you with an exemption from any possible guilt.

Going into this show I wasn’t as psyched as you would expect. Damien is one of my favorite performers and the last time I saw him he put on a show that still ranks as one of the best concerts that I have ever seen. And while his music hasn’t changed since then he did lose a significant member of his band as the lovely and talented Lisa Hannigan left. And while normally I wouldn’t worry about the loss of a backup singer Lisa was a vital part of the show. She sang entire verses and her haunting voice was as much of an instrument as Damien’s guitar or Vyvienne Long’s cello. So, I had no clue how Damien was going to perform without her.

And I have to admit, he put on a freaking amazing show tonight. It was the same band as before just now without Lisa. The show was just a full frontal assault from the moment he stepped onstage. The songs vary from acoustic and emotional to reverb filled, loop driven sonic nightmares. On some songs like Nine Crimes and I Remember he simply sang Lisa’s part, which wasn’t bad though I knew what was missing. A more interesting arrangement was Volcano where he reinterpreted her part by turning the song into something more appropriate of Crazy Horse than an Irish folk singer.

There were the usual moments of humor. At one point the band left the stage so that Viv could cover a Flaming Lips song on the piano. There were moments when the crowd was bouncing up and down and moments when no one would dare breathe. Those later moments were then typically interrupted by the incredibly drunk middle aged women next to me who would start talking extremely loudly. On the list of people I hate, drunks talking during concerts rank number four. The most amazing segue was the end of his set. After finishing I Remember with a long distorted guitar solo and vocal he unplugged completely, stepped away from the microphone, and sang and played Cannonball unamplified. I’ve seen a lot of performers play a song unamplified. I’ve never seen one performed within thirty seconds of a full throttle rock piece. It’s that change of pace that makes Damien Rice cool.

I still miss not having Lisa on stage. She has such an amazing voice and her stage presence would just leave you breathless but you know, if this was the first time you had ever seen Damien you would have left thinking this was the best show ever. You wouldn’t even have noticed that something was missing. That makes me feel good about his future. My fear was that without her he would just be another David Gray. He’s better than that and tonight it showed.

The five random CDs for the week
1) The Freddy Jones Band “North Avenue Wake Up Call”
2) Jump, Little Children “Between the Dim and the Dark”
3) Jay Farrar “ThirdShiftGrottoSlack”
4) Son Volt “The Search”
5) Aimee Mann “Live from St. Ann’s Warehouse”