06 June 2013 (gig)
16 June 2013
Dave McPherson’s fans had to be a bit patient to earn their prize in a very musical and pleasant way as they were offered to listen to two other artists; Hadleigh Ford and David Cavanagh (who came without his band Anathema).
Hadleigh Ford was a real treat and a great discovery. He had the tough job of breaking the ice and warming up a rather distracted audience. He started by telling us about Dave being his best man at his wedding and how their friendship was one of a kind. He then sang Sounds Like A Sunday which caught the attention of the whole room. He got us all tangled with My Own Worst Enemy and Butterfly. But it was really My Biology that left a mark in people’s mind; it is well written, catchy and the lyrics, which may appear light, hold a delightful second degree.
After assuring us that he would be “the drunk guy clapping and shouting at Dave in the corner of the room”, Hadleigh left the stage to Danny Cavanagh. He gave us an impressive reprise of the Pink Floyd’s famous track Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2). The audience could not help but be impressed by the fantastic guitar solo of Deep. After a cover of Big Love, a song from Fleetwood Mac, Cavanagh ended his performance with Untouchable getting us to sing and clap in time with him in some sort of warming up communion.
Then started what seemed to be a long waiting. The room was buzzing, the last spaces available filling in, the crowd slightly pushing to get closer to the stage, the Star Wars’ theme building even more the anticipation. At 9:30, casually arriving on the James Bond’s theme – “That wasn’t planned!” chuckled Dave – the InMe’s front man made his appearance! What I should let you know by now, and to give you a good idea of the atmosphere in the Barfly is that there was a drunk guy, randomly shouting. It was funny but could have become annoying if McPherson did not play the game.
After a great start to the gig with Snowball, a very rocky and touching ballad that satisfied the hungry audience’s appetite, our drunken friend started yelling again. Dave funnily complained about those “random noises” and our much-imbibed pal replicated “loud noises!” a reference to the comedy “The Anchorman” that made the whole room laughed warmly.
Ice broken, audience ravished and ready to give a great performance, McPherson accompanied by his band sang Relics of Don Quixote and Lady Luck, one of the best songs from Dreamoirs. It goes about juggling between two different lives: being on tour and being home, being a much-acclaimed solo artist and a regular guy.
Last year is a song from Dave’s first solo album released in 2011, The Hardship Diaries. As a first solo record, it was mainly a break-up CD. Maybe that is why McPherson was a bit reluctant to play this song and we had to thank his band mates for pushing him to sing it again for us.
Wearing a colourful unicorn and rainbow t-shirt, InMe’s front man introduced his next song Winter: Hibernation by telling us it is about how he likes travelling, exploring new places, going to the beach, the countryside and walking in fields, adding that, because he doesn’t have a dog, he probably looks like a killer in the project.
Then came The Wilderness which is the first single off Dreamoirs that will be released soon. It is a very delicate ballad with a good rhythm and great drums. Definitely a good choice for a first single, if you ask me.
McPherson got us all dancing with Before I Even Had You, a song from his past solo record. He did bet that only ladies would move to this track but was wrong as we were all wobbling our heads, shifting weight from one leg to another in rhythm and shaking our behinds.
The highlight was to come though, with some sort of counter time and very melodic changes, this tune definitely creates some sort of tsunami in your body. Ambivert Melanconnoisseur is about redemption and space travels, being some sort of musical U.F.O. And I suspect the author to be really proud of its weirdness.
Dave’s own little personal pet favourite off this album is I’m Possible. The lyrics are absolutely beautiful, telling us how it is like to see someone you really love and care about making mistakes in their life.
At this point, the band left: we gave Mike Curtis – Bassist, as tiny as a smurf (just quoting McPherson here!) -, Simon Taylor – Drummer, thanked by Dave for sticking around for so many years, which is quite rare- and Gary Marlow – guitarist and back singer – a round of applause for giving us such a thrilling evening.
It was just Dave left on stage. He got the crowd singing with Love Rats, a song he described to us like this: “first verse is about a girl that cheats on a guy, second verse is on a guy that cheats on a girl and the chorus gets a bit mixed up, we don’t know who cheats oh who!”
Finally, as a goodbye gift, InMe’s front man offered us a reprise of the famous nineties rap, Boom Shake The Room. Can I say that this last song was hysterical? It was a very special experience, very funny yet impressive that got the audience tangled and in need of more. Sadly, it had to end!
This review was written on behalf of David Spencer by EMILIE DEVILLET
