A fine night for some entertainment it seems as there was Def Leppard, Alice Cooper and Thin Lizzy rocking out in The O2 not a few hundred meters away from where I was sitting. It was my first time in this strange new place and as far as I’m aware apart from Queen Liz having a gander and having the likes of Mary Byrne and Westlife croon her happy, this was probably one of the first main stream events to take place in The Convention Centre, Dublin.

The seats are quite large, no bucket seating here, comfy enough that if your tired you might dose off and in front of every seat is a cleverly engineered pop out table and a plug socket. This venue is made to be the perfect venue for lectures, IT and other assorted conferences. The wooden finish everywhere gave it a very IKEA feeling, there was something just TOO shiny and corporate and when David comes out to introduce Lisa O’Neill and echoes those exact sentiments you know your not alone. My initial worry here is that in the vast stage expanse that the show might get lost for an intimate acoustic type show that David is promising with his ‘Lost and Found’ tour.

One of the biggest benefiting members of this tour is the support act, Lisa O’Neill a former Bewleys Cafe employee who released her song online, got heard by David Gray and whirlwind tours later having seen the world and many crazy things, Lisa was back in Dublin again. She seems to be what I would call a half and half act, she clearly has talent both vocally and technically and what the songs seem to orientate around is her quirky brand of comedy lyrics.

Songs like ‘Painted My Nails So Pretty’ and ‘It’s Still Milk’ which was written about extremely picky customers in Bewleys who would ask for all kind of small differences in their coffee, giving customers full milk when looking for skimmed and light milk, you couldn’t help but enjoy the quirky offbeat humour mixed with her singer-songwriter style.  An enjoyable support act and someone who clearly has impressed master Gray.

After a nice short 20 minute gap David promptly came out to start his set, for me it was nice for once not to be kept waiting especially since it’s hard to build an atmosphere in a seated venue like the convention centre. The set dimly lit, three lamps giving the stage a homely feel and a tall white backing sheet in a semi circle around the back of the band which was used to illuminate coloured lighting for atmosphere. I felt it important to describe this as the atmospheric lighting sheet actually enclosed the viewing area of the show which made the very large stage area seem more small and intimate. Give the man who thought of that addition a raise.

Gray began proceedings with his band playing slightly cut back version of the songs which had been chosen by the fans who voted on songs they would like to see live. starting with ‘Foundling’ and ‘Only The Wine’  along with ‘Lately’ mixing between piano and guitar effortlessly. David Gray feels as good a performer as years ago when he first broke through and his roadies are some of the snappiest dressed I’ve ever seen at any gig.

What is enjoyable about this show is the mix of cutting back the songs and re-imagining of some of his classic tunes. The guitars are mic’d up rather than using the pickups and there is a romantic and beautiful poise to the evenings entertainment with the audience providing a revered silence as Gray and his talented band run through the setlist. Support act Lisa O’Neill joins the band as backing vocals for ‘Kathleen’ and appears again regularly as part of the evening show.

‘Fugitive’  is one of the highlights of the evening as are the solo songs where the band leaves and David plays ‘Late Night Radio’ on acoustic and ‘You’re The World To Me’ on piano. There was a funny moment after ‘Forgetting’ where the drummer forgot to come back on stage which Gray turns from stage issue to joke easily keeping the crowd amused alongside providing the musical entertainment.

From time to time members of the crowd would break the silence with shout outs calling for songs or telling David they love him. One time after two shouts for songs someone shouted up “Play whatever you want” which got a huge laugh and David replying ‘At this stage I certainly will play whatever I want, Thank you’. David is joined by a gentleman on double bass for ‘This Years Loving’ and then the full band returned for ‘Alibi’.

David tells a nice story about how he sold a house on lordship drive in 1999 and he drove by a while back and it had the same blinds and the front door hadn’t been painted or anything. Then moved into ‘Babylon’ to close the show. Coming back after a short space of time for an encore he played ‘White Ladder’ and ‘Sail Away’ which finally got everyone in the crowd singing along.

If you were looking to head for home having rocked out in a mosh pit and potentially have a touch of tinnitus leaving the venue then The O2 up the way was providing such a show but tonight David Gray provided what can only be described as a lovely intimate evenings entertainment. It certainly wasn’t the most ground breaking show I’ve ever been to but I thoroughly enjoyed both David’s reworking of his own songs and the intimate and gentle nature of the entire show. It might sound weird but it was nice heading home from a gig more relaxed than when I went in. I still want to rock out, but this certainly was a nice change.

Setlists

Lisa o’Neill
Painted my nails so pretty
Musehead
BobbyD
Sing for your supper
When I was small
It’s still milk
Kiss the face
Raglin road (cover)

David Gray
Foundling
Only The Wine
Lately
Your the one I love
My Oh My
Holding on
From Here I Can Almost See The Sea
Kathleen
Fugitive
Flame turns blue
Draw The Line
Forgetting
Nemesis
Late Night Radio
You’re The World To Me
This Years Loving
Alibi
Babylon (32 lordship drive, sold it in 1999, passed by and still same old blinds, front door not painted)

Encore
White Ladder
Sail away

(This is what the seating of the venue looks like inside the convention centre auditorium)