Review: The David Thomas concert last saturday was brilliant. My co-worker Lars' house had a separate building that contained a studio/tiny stage where the concert took place. Before and after the concert you could have a chat with David who was really nice and everything I expected him to be - quiet yet opinionated, shy yet a total flirt.
The concert consisted of two sets of a little more than 40 minutes of just David and his harmonica - and the occasional switch from microphone to a telephone receiver(!) - presenting a very intimate and soulful sound that fit the atmosphere perfectly.
The miserable mood in the pictures isn't even that far off - there was a very unique tragic comic way to to his way of performing that gave an constantly awkward tension to the room which was broken on a regular basis with relived laughter from the crowd and a tiny knowing smile from David.
David later told Lars, on the way to the airport, that he might translate these "private" performances to his further live shows - so other people might be treated to a similar experience in a near future.
Look out for those!
I bought his "solo" album 18 Monkey's on a Dead Man's Chest at the show which I have come to like a lot. It's rougher and noisier than the concert which I like, although I wouldn't have wanted that in the live show - wouldn't have been the right fit.
Listen to this (quieter) song Harbeas Corpus off the album here. It's pretty close to the sound from saturday.
Boy the way you blowin' up my phone / Won't make me leave no fas-tah.
Crowd - me on the left with a steaming cup of coffee - ah! about 50% are in this photo - the place was so tiny!
David Thomas, live @ Lillely - Photos by the lovely Chris Power and Mynheer Peeperkorn.
