Duke Special at Auntie Annie’s, Belfast on July 29th
Review by Elizabeth McGeown
Having a gig that starts after midnight has benefits; the crowd are well-lubricated, enough to laugh and chant along with anything; the downside being that sometimes this isn’t necessarily what the performer wants. Duke Special seems perplexed by tonight’s audience, their applause and enthusiasm welcome, their incessant chatter seeming to irritate him slightly. He tries to tell long-winded historical stories about the origins of new songs and he pleads with them to listen, but you get the impression it’s all going over their merry heads. Their reactions bring some classic moments though, old favourite ‘Last Night I Nearly Died’ being met with an audience who actually sing the piano bridge in the middle, making it sound like the theme from an 80s sitcom. The Duke has clearly never witnessed this before and mutters “Interesting…” before carrying on with the song, to a rapturous reception.
Songs vary widely, from the thumping pistons of ‘Portrait’ and steam engine of a new song ‘Apple Jack’ to the Tim Burton-esque ‘Digging An Early Grave’. A special welcome is reserved for Temperance Society Chip Bailey who plays the cheese grater and rattles keys into the microphone to great visual effect, but does mostly simply play the drums, the more avant-garde items in his possession being used for flourishes and attention-grabbing.
The night drifts into unknown territory when And So I Watch You From Afar’s Tony ascends the stage, with what we guess is a lyric book in his hand. The Duke quietly talks about their love for American songwriter Stephen Foster and they play a duet of sorts. Tony, not known for singing, has a voice that doesn’t sound like it gets aired often and has gathered dust in a cupboard. It’s a moment that sails dangerously close to self-indulgence but all is forgiven as soon as the next familiar song is played.
Duke Special spends a lot of time with his dreadlocks draped over the microphone stand and singing to a spurned lover so it’s nice to have a change with his new photography based songs, ‘You Press A Button, We Do The Rest’ taking the form of a letter from one disgruntled photographer to another, so humorous it could have been written by Roald Dahl. These moments of humour are interspersed with darker intervals, a chillingly flat version of Joy Division’s ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’ exploring the darkest depths.
Two encores later and only the hardcore devotees are left and are rewarded with ‘Freewheel’ for their patience, coupled with a chorus of Bon Jovi’s ‘You Give Love A Bad Name’. The music stops shortly before 2am and everyone leaves, bewildered by the more heartfelt moments but knowing they were definitely not short-changed on performance.