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| Set list: 1. Shield Your Eyes 2. New Ceremony 3. History Book 4. Demons 5. Weights & Measures 6. No Rest 7. Bible Belt 8. Lion's Den 9. Shaker Hymns (Encore) |
If you have read anything on this
blog before, you will know that I'm quite a big Dry the River fan. Dry the
River, if you don't know already, are a folk-rock band from London who formed
in 2009 and released their debut album, "Shallow Bed" earlier this year. The venue was the biggest venue they'd ever done and was at O2 Empire Shepherds
Bush, London and is a venue close to my heart as it was were I witnessed my
first concert (Paloma Faith if anyone is interested).
Onto the gig then. As the band aren't that well known, they are still quite down to earth and I got the sense that they were actually excited about the gig (it being their biggest). Unlike some bands who between every song tell you how it reminds them of their childhood cat who fell off the roof and died and how the song goes out to them, Dry the River give you about a sentence every few songs to say something that will genuinely interest the audience. Dry the River get on with the gig, they don't waste time chatting. For me, you can tell if a small band are going to be any good or not by the amount of time they take between their songs. If the band lecture you about their songs, they don't have time to play as much bad music but if they get on with it, I get the impression they want to get as much in as possible for the listeners sake.
My favourite part of the gig was definitely "Weights & Measures" which was done so well. I may be being very biased here because the song means a lot to me personally and is my favourite song on the album but the performance had such power in it, it moved people even at the very back of the concert hall. What amazed me most about Dry the River's performance, was that Peter the lead singer can actually sing falsetto so well for such a long period of time. Although you can hear that Peter does sing like that on the album, I had a feeling that his voice was too good to be true, but I tell you now, it is NOT! Live, as a band, they are even more beautiful and simple than they are on the the album and seeing them making that the sound they make on the record with just an acoustic guitar, an electric guitar, a bass, a drum kit and a violin (plus the occasional french horn and trumpet pairing) with your own eyes is just amazing! They're funny as well, Peter was telling the story about how he got the french horn player to teach him the little bit in the intro of "No Rest" just so he could put on the album sleeve that he played french horn and they were talking about how they were making their beer own beer and that they would be sampling it in the bar next door.
If there was a negative, it would be that the gig was a bit short. Just as you were getting into the gig, it ended. The quality of music was brilliant but 1. They didn't play all the songs on the album - which you can expect but 2. They didn't play anything new. I gave them the benefit of the doubt because it's their first album so they probably don't have that many songs to play and it was they're biggest gig so they probably didn't want to push the boat out.
I would definitely see Dry the River again, I think the gig was a good taster as the overall message at the end was "I want more!". They are amazing live and if you haven't listened to them yet, they are a gem amongst the crap we're faced with in the music world today and are one of the bands of the year for me. LISTEN!
*Sorry this is late, I've been very busy...
My favourite part of the gig was definitely "Weights & Measures" which was done so well. I may be being very biased here because the song means a lot to me personally and is my favourite song on the album but the performance had such power in it, it moved people even at the very back of the concert hall. What amazed me most about Dry the River's performance, was that Peter the lead singer can actually sing falsetto so well for such a long period of time. Although you can hear that Peter does sing like that on the album, I had a feeling that his voice was too good to be true, but I tell you now, it is NOT! Live, as a band, they are even more beautiful and simple than they are on the the album and seeing them making that the sound they make on the record with just an acoustic guitar, an electric guitar, a bass, a drum kit and a violin (plus the occasional french horn and trumpet pairing) with your own eyes is just amazing! They're funny as well, Peter was telling the story about how he got the french horn player to teach him the little bit in the intro of "No Rest" just so he could put on the album sleeve that he played french horn and they were talking about how they were making their beer own beer and that they would be sampling it in the bar next door.
If there was a negative, it would be that the gig was a bit short. Just as you were getting into the gig, it ended. The quality of music was brilliant but 1. They didn't play all the songs on the album - which you can expect but 2. They didn't play anything new. I gave them the benefit of the doubt because it's their first album so they probably don't have that many songs to play and it was they're biggest gig so they probably didn't want to push the boat out.
I would definitely see Dry the River again, I think the gig was a good taster as the overall message at the end was "I want more!". They are amazing live and if you haven't listened to them yet, they are a gem amongst the crap we're faced with in the music world today and are one of the bands of the year for me. LISTEN!
*Sorry this is late, I've been very busy...
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