Kevin Devine (St Pancras Old Church, 14.05.14)
I enjoyed Kevin Devine's show on Wednesday so much that I decided to come back on Thursday, having bought a ticket for both events some three months previously.
Much to my delight, Stephen H Davidson (the frontman of indie rock heroes Tellison) was supporting with a mixture of old ("Tell It To Thebes" and "Freud Links The Teeth And The Heart", the latter's cheesy lyrics prompting laughter in the room) and new tracks ("Wrecker" and another song that's inspired by Napoleon). My excitement for the new Tellison record has reached its peak, although the highlight of his set was an emotive cover of "The Way You Look Tonight". As Devine later observed, Davidson is a strong writer with a nice line in wry lyrics.
Having performed tracks from his first four records the previous night, Devine completed his career retrospective with an entirely different set. He self deprecatingly refers to "Between The Concrete And Clouds" as his most poorly received record. It's probably the least accessible of his albums, but the songs benefit from being stripped back acoustically, in particular the title track and the album's closer "I Used To Be Someone", the "A brother's brother and a mother's son" refrain echoing around the church.
On Wednesday, Devine had spoken about "Protest Singer" from "Circle Takes The Square" and how it had been inspired by The Smiths lyric "I thought that if you had an acoustic guitar then it meant that you were a protest singer". Devine's recent work has possessed more of a political emphasis. 2013's "Bubblegum" is his punk rock record and these songs lose none of their intensity in an acoustic format. "Private First Class" (an impassioned defence of Chelsea Manning) is a particular highlight.
Closing with "Brother's Blood", another 100 minute set flies by in the company of this hugely talented, hugely likeable New Yorker.
Much to my delight, Stephen H Davidson (the frontman of indie rock heroes Tellison) was supporting with a mixture of old ("Tell It To Thebes" and "Freud Links The Teeth And The Heart", the latter's cheesy lyrics prompting laughter in the room) and new tracks ("Wrecker" and another song that's inspired by Napoleon). My excitement for the new Tellison record has reached its peak, although the highlight of his set was an emotive cover of "The Way You Look Tonight". As Devine later observed, Davidson is a strong writer with a nice line in wry lyrics.
Having performed tracks from his first four records the previous night, Devine completed his career retrospective with an entirely different set. He self deprecatingly refers to "Between The Concrete And Clouds" as his most poorly received record. It's probably the least accessible of his albums, but the songs benefit from being stripped back acoustically, in particular the title track and the album's closer "I Used To Be Someone", the "A brother's brother and a mother's son" refrain echoing around the church.
On Wednesday, Devine had spoken about "Protest Singer" from "Circle Takes The Square" and how it had been inspired by The Smiths lyric "I thought that if you had an acoustic guitar then it meant that you were a protest singer". Devine's recent work has possessed more of a political emphasis. 2013's "Bubblegum" is his punk rock record and these songs lose none of their intensity in an acoustic format. "Private First Class" (an impassioned defence of Chelsea Manning) is a particular highlight.
Closing with "Brother's Blood", another 100 minute set flies by in the company of this hugely talented, hugely likeable New Yorker.
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