{"id":653214,"date":"2025-12-25T00:29:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-25T00:29:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/653214\/"},"modified":"2025-12-25T00:29:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-25T00:29:10","slug":"gig-review-badly-drawn-boy-edinburgh-queens-hall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/653214\/","title":{"rendered":"Gig review: Badly Drawn Boy – Edinburgh Queen’s Hall"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tonight\u2019s performance from Damon Gough, bka Badly Drawn Boy, is firmly in the wistful, nostalgic space \u2013 perfect for a bit of warm and fuzzy pre-Christmas reminiscing. <\/p>\n

Along with an excellent backing band, including the brilliant Alex Thomas on drums, Gough gives us his seminal debut, \u2018The Hour of Bewilderbeast\u2019, in full. During this portion of the set he\u2019s uncharacteristically taciturn, very much focused on the music and ensuring he remembers each note \u2013 \u201cI don\u2019t normally make it this far through the album, so let\u2019s see how this goes\u2026\u201d he quips ahead of the final few songs. <\/p>\n

Most of the album is delivered faithfully enough, though Gough does go through a couple of false starts after an intro doesn\u2019t 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 \u2018Say It Again\u2019 has to be omitted, and the eccentric touches that pepper the album \u2013 a bit of theremin here, a clavinet there \u2013 are missing, which makes it feel a little more conventional than on record. But the the key ingredient, Gough\u2019s kitchen sink poetics, are as present and alive as ever, and the band\u2019s skill ensures that any changes appear seamless.<\/p>\n

A few songs feature updated arrangements or lyrics, such as the addition of new lyrics to the brief, experimental outlier \u2018Body Rap\u2019. Early songs emphasise Gough\u2019s melodic skills, but it\u2019s the lyrical gems that really shine: \u2018Once Around The Block\u2019 gets the quiet audience singing for the first time, before \u2018Pissing in the Wind\u2019 really gets them going; the sound of what post-Britpop could\u2019ve 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. <\/p>\n

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, \u2018You Were Right\u2019 (no. 9 on the charts!), maudlin, but touching new songs about fatherhood, Tony Wilson and, erm, Brexit. We revisit Gough\u2019s time as the sound of a ubiquitous Comet advert (\u2018All Possibilities\u2019), 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.<\/p>\n

The best songs are those from the underrated About a Boy soundtrack; the cascading catchiness of \u2018Something to Talk About\u2019 and especially a beautiful piano-led rendition of \u2018Silent Sigh\u2019. 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. <\/p>\n

As an early Christmas treat, he closes with \u2018Donna and Blitzen\u2019, bells and all. The final refrain of \u201cI will sleep tonight\u201d 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\u2019s where we find ourselves.<\/p>\n

\"Lewis<\/a> \"Lewis<\/a>Latest posts by Lewis Wade (see all<\/a>) <\/p>\n

\n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tonight\u2019s performance from Damon Gough, bka Badly Drawn Boy, is firmly in the wistful, nostalgic space \u2013 perfect…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":653215,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8816],"tags":[748,1102,4884,712,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-653214","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-edinburgh","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-edinburgh","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-scotland","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115777386688195930","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/653214","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=653214"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/653214\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/653215"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=653214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=653214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=653214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}