Tonight’s performance from Damon Gough, bka Badly Drawn Boy, is firmly in the wistful, nostalgic space – perfect for a bit of warm and fuzzy pre-Christmas reminiscing.
Along with an excellent backing band, including the brilliant Alex Thomas on drums, Gough gives us his seminal debut, ‘The Hour of Bewilderbeast’, in full. During this portion of the set he’s uncharacteristically taciturn, very much focused on the music and ensuring he remembers each note – “I don’t normally make it this far through the album, so let’s see how this goes…” he quips ahead of the final few songs.
Most of the album is delivered faithfully enough, though Gough does go through a couple of false starts after an intro doesn’t meet his standards (typical for a BDB show, and mercifully never more than once per song). The string arrangements need to be reproduced through samples, which reduces the grandeur that gilds the hodgepodge range of styles that are deployed across the album. Obviously the brass section of ‘Say It Again’ has to be omitted, and the eccentric touches that pepper the album – a bit of theremin here, a clavinet there – are missing, which makes it feel a little more conventional than on record. But the the key ingredient, Gough’s kitchen sink poetics, are as present and alive as ever, and the band’s skill ensures that any changes appear seamless.
A few songs feature updated arrangements or lyrics, such as the addition of new lyrics to the brief, experimental outlier ‘Body Rap’. Early songs emphasise Gough’s melodic skills, but it’s the lyrical gems that really shine: ‘Once Around The Block’ gets the quiet audience singing for the first time, before ‘Pissing in the Wind’ really gets them going; the sound of what post-Britpop could’ve been if the adventurousness of Gough and similarly-minded artists like Super Furry Animals had taken root instead of the beige introspection of Coldplay and Keane, or the soulless swagger of Kaiser Chiefs.
After a short break, the second half of the set provides a whistle-stop tour of the rest of the BDB back catalogue: his biggest hit, ‘You Were Right’ (no. 9 on the charts!), maudlin, but touching new songs about fatherhood, Tony Wilson and, erm, Brexit. We revisit Gough’s time as the sound of a ubiquitous Comet advert (‘All Possibilities’), which he introduces only half-jokingly as the high point of his career, then gets lost on a tangent about re-watching the ad on VHS every Friday night with Edith Bowman.
The best songs are those from the underrated About a Boy soundtrack; the cascading catchiness of ‘Something to Talk About’ and especially a beautiful piano-led rendition of ‘Silent Sigh’. Gough is much chattier in this part of the show, speaking candidly about his past, his influences and his circuitous career path. He looks confident and sounds wonderful which, after plenty of challenges with anxiety, depression and addiction, is just as lovely to see/hear as his open-hearted thanks for the support and connection that he speaks to late on in the show.
As an early Christmas treat, he closes with ‘Donna and Blitzen’, bells and all. The final refrain of “I will sleep tonight” hits like a peaceful, earned admittance. You might not come to a Badly Drawn Boy show expecting to leave full of festive cheer, but that’s where we find ourselves.
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