A Badly Slept Badly Drawn Boy

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Filed in Music
March 29, 2007

Vancouver's great place to be for gigs, 'cause lots of tours either start or stop here at the continent's NW corner. That's rad when tours start or finish off with a bang, but surely sometimes a band is just too strung out by long relentless string of repetitive gigs to really deliver the goods.

Apparently that was the case when Manchester's Badly Drawn Boy played their last gig after months on the fly: by the time he got to Van, he was so burned out, he could barely get through the show. Before the gig, the bass player mentioned to me how knackered everyone was at this point in time. And then when I saw everyone playing, I realized something kinda important was missing: enthusiasm.

You know it's rough when you're trying to identify someone in the band who's at least nodding their head to the strumming of a guitar. Even when Damon Gough (aka BDB) climbed up on the speakers and waved his arms around, or when he shook hands with audience members, it still seemed like he was dreaming about how soft his pillow would be.

Still don't believe me? Then let's count up the times he faltered in a song and had to restart it up. After one song crashed for the second time, he had to light a smoke before attempting it again. But pay attention, kiddies, 'cause smoking's bad for you! As was evidenced a few minutes later Gough started hacking into the mike and decided that the song wasn't worth finishing anymore.

Let this be a lesson for all you aspiring musicians who want the exciting lifestyle of a rock star. It's not always like
Kiss or G'n'F'n'R (well, not without the piles of coke, anyhow).

There's no denying BDB's newly released Born in the UK isn't very close to the brilliance of 2000's Hour of Bewilderbeast, so you can't have quite the same expectations, but Gough still sang sweetly, on the whole played well, and spoke sincerely. (I rather felt for him when he commented on how bloody long the party'd been on the road).

Kudos to Vancouverites for being super gracious, when a meaner city could've started booing at all the starts and stops. "You can DO it!" yelled out audience members. It was sad and inspiring at the same time.

I don't mean to say the show was a write off. It kinda felt like cheering on the long distance runner as they stumble towards the finish line, because hell, long haul or not, they still sound pretty good, and they're still giving whatever they got. I rather dug it when they played a Badly Drawn Boyified version of Like a Virgin, which segued into his own Silent Sigh. Nicely done.

But next time, Gough, why not start in Van, instead of finishing here?

Oh. I split after the presumed "last song", assuming there'd be no encore. Yes, they were that tired. Or were they? If anyone can tell me if they played more, I'm interested to know. Thx.

Opener Adem played a lovely, quirky and quiet set. It was so sweet when in his soft spoken London accent he would remind people that they have to be quiet to actually hear his music (which was true; not exactly ideal for a boozin' crowd, but c'est la vie).

And Lissie from LA dished out some sweet ol' indie guitar pop, with a good ol' hoedown finisher.

I don't know why people skip out on the openers which the headliners have chosen. That's weird.

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oh, poor tired boys. well, at least they can rest now.

I used to be perpetually late to concerts, and almost always missed the opening band, but now I make a point of seeing them. Even if they're bad, it's still an opportunity to get to know some new music, and chances are the headliner chose them for a good reason.

Posted by: degan at March 29, 2007 9:31 AM | Quote Comment

i'm glad i skipped it - although he restarted a couple of songs when i saw him in sydney a few years ago, so i think he can just be 'particular' and being tired wasn't the only reason

and yep, vancouver's pretty good for gigs but lots of bands play toronto, montreal and seattle on their n.a tour and skip vancouver - why?

Posted by: giselle at March 29, 2007 9:43 AM | Quote Comment

Playing for over two hours-ish AND coming back for an encore.
He didnt do his allotted hour and a bit, three song encore..
His eary state added to the sort ot lyrics he writes. class in any situation - more so whan ya know its with a knackered soul at the end of a months journey away from your missis and baby. The evening your hear ya grandads just died back in Manchester

Damon's a Oirish-decent Manc. Not the most outwordly expressive of peeps. Hes not going to be bouncy at best.
The warts n all event - crowd banter, story telling and anecdotal sharing, made for a great evening. 8pm till almost 1am? Like he was exercising demons.

Posted by: panducci at March 29, 2007 9:52 AM | Quote Comment

I agree with panducci. This must have been tough not being able to be at the funeral for your grandfather (to whom he dedicated the whole show). At the same time, I clearly saw a huge difference to last time I saw him at the Commodore. The only thing that bugs me is that even shows at Richards start to be in the $30 range now (plus all the Ticketshafters "fees". Shame on them). I hope it helps to keep Richards alive and resist the condo developers who have been hawking over it for a long long time...

Posted by: fabian at March 29, 2007 11:27 AM | Quote Comment

Weary - but giving it.

Fabian - the ticketwanker fees kill me too . OK - provide a service, and i'll agree to pay a SMALL % of the ticket value for the various service wankery.

BUT what works out to be in the twenty percent range (adding convenience fee, this fee,, that fee, the print-out-tickets-using-your-own-paper-and-ink but we'll STILL get you fee). NOT COOL).

Grrr...Not like its going to the artists, or the venue peeps.

As for Richards. Has it already been sold? New owners looking to parlay the licence into ca$h for the location (condos), then use license to open a new club (dance, not gig) elsewhere..
I've heard various tales..That would be interesting to find out.

Posted by: panducci at March 29, 2007 11:50 AM | Quote Comment

I am sure glad I skipped it in favor of Lily Allen! That show was awesome and exceeded all expectation.

Posted by: Jeannette at March 29, 2007 1:33 PM | Quote Comment

Geez, i musta missed it when he mentioned his grandfather passing on. That is really sad, so good on him for playing the show for us regardless.

And i agree w/ Panducci that his downtrodden state did rather accentuate some of his songs' moods.

Posted by: statusq at March 29, 2007 1:39 PM | Quote Comment

I agree with pantucci. I thought it was a great show. Yes, he was exhausted, physically and emotionally. But that also made for even more openness that one would expect of Badly Drawn Boy. He was, as pantucci said, really giving himself for us--and for his grandfather, and for the end of the tour.

And yup, there was indeed an encore. I didn't quite believe he'd come out again either, and plenty of other people left. But out he came. Fittingly enough, as far as I could tell, the final song was a cover of "Don't Stop Believin'."

Posted by: Jon at March 30, 2007 12:30 AM | Quote Comment

Wow, he really put out. RIP, Granddad. And my apologies to BDB if my review was too neg-focussed.

Posted by: statusq at March 30, 2007 6:04 PM | Quote Comment

I used to live next door to Badly Drawn Boy.... I'm sure he earns enough to put all his effort into every gig. After all the public paid to see him didn't they?

Posted by: TravMonkey at April 1, 2007 6:37 AM | Quote Comment