I have a hard time liking an artist who doesn’t come off well in interviews. Perhaps that’s unfair of me, since there is always the possibility that a journalist has misrepresented or failed to give the full context or tone of the quoted words, but no matter whether I love the music – once I have read a couple of interviews where a singer comes off as smug, conceited, or arrogant, I can never quite think of his or her albums in quite the same way. The exception, I thought, was Badly Drawn Boy, aka Damon Gough. I don’t think I have ever read an interview with Gough where I didn’t cringe a little at something he said, but nevertheless, I always eagerly anticipate – and generally enjoy – his work quite a lot.
So I was particularly excited for the opportunity to see Badly Drawn Boy in concert. The October 12 show at the Avalon in Hollywood demonstrated that Gough has phenomenal talent, and his new album is nearly as good as his work on the About a Boy soundtrack. Tuesday found him eager to play LA; and he anticipated a good show, as Gogh said some of his best concerts have been played in this city. He dedicated the show to LA songwriter Elliott Smith, who he referred to several times over the course of the evening (“Fewer Words” was written after watching a video of Smith shortly after his death; “This Is That New Song” was written with Smith, among others, in mind).
A brief Badly Drawn Boy history: Gough’s first LP under the Badly Drawn Boy moniker was Hour of Bewilderbeast, released in 2000, which became a college radio smash hit that made Badly Drawn Boy a hipster household name. Then, for two years no full lengths were released; but instead, a series of EPs. In 2002, Gough released the soundtrack album for About a Boy, the Hugh Grant movie based on the Nick Hornby novel. It was here that he began to get noticed by a mainstream audience, and the soundtrack remains, arguably, his best work to date. The same year, Gough released the disappointing Have You Fed the Fish?, which, despite a couple of high points - “You Were Right” is without a doubt one of Gough’s finest songs yet - ranks as his weakest record.
Article comments
1 - visualsimplicity
I missed his SF concert on the 10th (driving to and from the city on a sunday evening made me hesitant). I didn't realize he was such a whacko, but you are right, he makes brilliant music. Despite that though, I don't know if I could filter through that sort of attitude being thrown around at a live gig and actually enjoy the music. It's different listening to the CD, since there's no backtalking. Regardless, your review makes me feel a little less bad about missing it.
Anyway, did he play "The Shining"? You'd think something like that would be unquestioned, but from the way you described his animosity towards his debut album, I don't know.
Well, thanks for the review.
2 - Jared
Thanks for the review. I didn't realize his great animosity towards Bewilderbeast, either. I'm sure its because he's heard so many times that it was his best work and he hasn't matched up since. I think it was a great album and unlike the rest, but i think his work since has been good and enjoyable as well. i look forward to seeing his concert this month, but concerts were the artist does things like that above give me a bad taste in my mouth for a while towards them, so hopefully he'll be in a good mood that night. Thanks.
3 - Mike
Thanks for the review - I actually just saw BDB in Portland ME. last night and the same thing happened where he told a few fans on different occasions to shut the fuck up. I was definitly saddened by that because I never pictured that he would have such a bad attitude. Amazing show, too bad for the dark moments though