Saw Damien Rice play this past Friday.
 

Yesterday I took the opportunity to go see Damien Rice play in Houston. The venue he came to was one of our smaller popular venues for mainstream acts but by no means the smallest. Considering Damien Rice hasn't had a radio hit in over half a decade I was expecting a lot of empty seats but was pleasantly surprised to find the show had sold out. The entire row we were sitting on were college age kids. They were singing along to many of the songs and complete strangers were getting to know each other talking about our set list hopes and how much certain songs meant to us.

I knew that in Austin and Dallas he had opened the show with Cannonball, but when it's just one man and his guitar that leaves the door open for a lot more dynamics. He decide to open with Grey Room, a song not played at either of the other two Texas shows (turns out the Houston show got two extra songs). Overall he played a good mix of songs from each of his three major releases. Stopping in between to tell entertaining stories about his life and the story behind the songs. I was expecting a very quite set, but it turned out to be anything but. On stage he had multiple instruments and a looper and he layered his loops in a different way than any other artist I've heard. His approach to looping evolved his sweet guitar strums and whisper like vocals to high screams and industrial pounding and all this was coming from one man on stage. It was a performance art experience that I did not have the last time I saw him. Not every song got this treatment, but the one he did use it on only seemed enhanced by the effect. It was very well invoked.

Over it was just a phenomenal concert experience.

He saved The Blowers Daughter until last. Played as the last song of a five song encore. Without informing the audience what was going on he had the sound guy turn the PA and he played it solo completely unplugged. The solid out audience (almost all of which appeared to still be in the building mesmerized) were completely silent which allowed those of us on the balcony to hear him. There is something very special about hearing a completely acoustic performance with no application. The audience seemed to immediately understand what was going on and kept silent for everyone else out of respect without even having to be asked to do so.

This video isn't mine but this was shot at the show last night.


Set list
1. Grey Room
2. Eskimo
3. The Box
4. Elephant
5. I Remember
6. The Greatest *******
7. Coconut Skins
8. Accidental Babies
9. Delicate
10. Trusty and True
11. It Takes a Lot to Know a Man

Encore
12. Cannonball
13. Long Long Way
14. Vocano
15. 9 Crimes
16. The Blower's Daughter (sound system off, completely unplugged)

He's on my shortlist of artists to go see if they tour near me.
I'd also like to see Bruce Cockburn, Jose Gonzalez and John Gorka if they ever find their way down here.

Saw Damien Rice play this past Friday.
 

Damien Rice is amazing live. His live shows are very dynamic and not nearly as mellow as you might think.

The first time I saw him was at a small club in Cleveland. The opening act was some Irish band called the Frames. We never heard of them. They were absolutely amazing and blew the roof off. For those who don't know, this is Glenn Hansard's band. We thought Damien would be much too mellow and subdued to make any kind of impression after that. I was completely wrong. Damien was absolutely amazing. He was beyond description with some really rocking numbers and some really nice mellow tunes that you think of when you think of him.

Severely jealous! That sounds like a great evening. I will be in Dallas at the beginning of Oct. Wish it could have been a couple months earlier!

Old thread, but I can't believe there are so few responses! I've been a Damien Rice fan for many years. I'm still kicking myself for not learning about him until AFTER I'd left the U.K. but I'm glad I found him either way.

I remember reading about him on a post over at thegearpage where he'd bought some live gear and was quite the gentleman about it, taking the advice of the member, and making sure his live sound was the best it could be.

I've also come to respect him for rarely deviating from his main guitar, a Japanese Lowden, for all these years. As a player who's gone through MANY acoustics, I long for the day when I find the one I connect with in that way.

I have not see Damien Rice live but would love to. So many great performers, so little time. Sigh.

Best,
Jayne

I remember listening to a local station here that plays indie and upcoming artists, and heard "Cannonball" from his album "O". Got me hooked; I can't believe that was over a decade-and-a-half ago!

And all those songs still stand up...