Badly Drawn Boy, is basically, let’s face it, a one-man band, with front man Damon Gough sometimes never even acknowledging the rest of his band during his set. Famous for his shows lasting up to three hours -- he’ll even skip a sound check if it means more stage time -- Gough’s rambling stories, off-the-cuff covers and rough starting and restarting of songs are his trademarks, and that’s what the audience expected at Washington, D.C.’s 9:30 club show March 6. This was a more mature Gough asking an audience looking for the “Boy,” to sit tight and wait. And those who stayed for the 2-hour, 15-minute show got their pressies in the end.
Gough started off with songs from his new album “Born in the U.K,” including “Time of the Times,” a big-sounding tune with hardly any lyrics. “Oh sweet morning, is your hair not right?” It’s this kind of conversational back-and-forth that makes Gough’s songs accessible and special.
More impressive was his purely instrumental version of new-song “Welcome to the Overground.” It gave a strong, sweeping start to the show with both Gough and his band mate on keyboard, filling the room with '70s-style theatrics. Gough’s new album has been touted as a 1970s music and Burt Bacharach inspired-effort, and this came out with his first few songs:
“Nothing’s Gonna Change Your Mind,” “Journey From A to B” and “Degrees of Separation.”
But it was about 20 minutes into the show when fans started pleading with him for something, anything, really.
“I can’t really interact as much,” Gough apologized. “Just enjoy yourselves and don’t worry about me,” kind of a ridiculous thing to say to a Badly Drawn Boy fan who has seen him at 9:30 in the past, passing around photos to the audience, declaring his hatred of girls who wear glasses. He’s even jumped on one of the speakers in an attempt to scale the VIP balcony.
“Just got to get a few new songs out of the way,” Gough added later. “We’ve got time yet.”
So the crowd stood like very patient, love-starved chimps, as Gough soldiered through songs from his new album. The songs were good. An acoustic version of the new album’s title track ”Born in the U.K.” -- Gough’s musical idol is Bruce Springsteen -- was excellent.
Perhaps channeling the Boss or perhaps feeling it from the crowd a little, Gough started to liven up and get political. He sang “Don’t Ask Me, I’m Only the President” from his fourth album “One Plus One is One,” a song he said is “sublime and beautiful and sad, if I don’t say so myself.” He sang, “All men are equal and no man should be king.” It’s safe to assume he meant George Bush and not Charles.
After the 13th song, Gough disappeared without a word, leaving the band on the stage to play awkwardly through the break. He had stepped out for a cigarette, he said, and came back with some pep. A couple songs later, Gough played one of his most interesting and haunting songs of the night, a Beck-like tune called “I Love You All,” from his second EP, “EP2.”
Gough took off from there, singing “All Possibilities” from “Have You Fed the Fish,” shaking hands with the crowd. Gough sang, “You guys are crazy,” and “I think you’re into me D.C., and that leaves me in ecstasy.” A funny cover of Madonna’s “Like a Virgin” and Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing” followed.
About two hours into the show someone from the crowd yelled out, “Tell us your stories!” Someone else, “Tell us one story!” Some stories were told during the show, but they were mostly sad song explanations, one about a lost friend later found dead and another about a fictionalized suicide note.
The show was distinctly a two-parter, with the second half being more entertaining and experimental. A rocking version of “Cause a Rockslide” from Gough’s critically acclaimed first album, “Hour of the Bewilderbeast,” stood out along with “I Love You All” as one of the best songs of the night.
Playing an astounding six songs after the encore, Gough did manage to fit in a story about working for Santa Claus on the very first Christmas Eve. Gough said he drank martinis extra dry with lemonade -- “a real Christmas drink” -- and fed Donner and Blitzen caviar and polished their hooves. Gough said he marveled at how Santa was going visit every child in the world that night.
"How the hell are you going to do that?’ I asked him. And he said, ‘Will power,” Gough told the steadfast crowd. At that point in the show, they would have to relate.
It was a hard adjustment, but by the end of the concert, fans were facing a more mature Gough, a man with two kids who just spent a year making an album that was never released because he didn’t think it was good enough and another year writing “Born in the U.K.,” an album he has admitted is not the best, but not the worst, either. Even with a mixed-bag show, it’s Badly Drawn Boy’s melodic, let’s-get-together-and-face-the-world music that endures.
