Armadillo, Glasgow
March 22nd, 2025
White Ladder, David Gray, classic anthems, epic sales, part of the human fabric, right? I wouldn’t know myself, never was a fan per se, didn’t even know the words to the Babylon chorusi, which saw me at the completely other end of the spectrum from everyone in the Armadillo in Glasgow last night. All were on their feet, singing their hearts out to that song especially, & any others from his back catalogue. A lot of the songs he sung, however, were taken from his brand new album, Dear Life. Began during Covid, put down when he realis’d he needed to spend time with his family during the pandemic, then pick’d up again late 2021, it’s finally hit the universe & of course the obligatory tour which he’s call’d ‘Past & Present.’
Under the space age roof of the Armadillo I arriv’d a couple of songs into the set. To accompany his poetical phraseology, David Gray has an excellent band behind him, including a completely gonzo drummer, & chops & changes moods & instruments with a song-by-song frequency. Time flew by, almost two hours of songs I’d say, & you could feel the love for the man growing as we proceeded along his sonic pathway. From jangling mellow ballads to pumping dance, Gray covers a lot of tempos, but always with that soft-rock honey vibe that elevates the mind as we open our ears to, not listen, but hear Gray’s glorious take on guitar music, with all its minors & majors & Paul Simon’s incantory soul.
It’s songs at the edge of the desert stuff, this, but sung from the center of humanity. Well, apart from his bangin’ curve-ball cover of ‘Just can’t get enough.’ A real treat & one I’m glad to have witness’d at least once in my life.
Damo
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