Damien Rice @Beacon Theatre, Dec. 13th

Gotta keep this short cos I should have been in bed an hour ago, but called up Tina and caught up with her for a bit.

Tonight Bharat and I made it to the Beacon just barely to catch Damien Rice in concert for the second time in less than a month. In November, we were lucky to see him at the intimate Hiro Ballroom show. Today we had awesome seats -- 6th row center, baby! -- but the increased size in venue seemed to equate an increased number of assholes. We sat in Row B, in front of Row C, which must have stood for chatterboxes. On the left behind us was the woman who insisted on talking, not whispering, through entire songs, pausing only to call out for the one song she knew -- "the Blower's Daughter", and to the right behind us were the gabby fans who kept screaming "Lisa" for the band's angel-voiced chanteuse despite a lack of response. Lovely.



Anyway, we obviously prefered the November gig, but the non-acoustic billing allowed for additional, heartier songs to be played. Whereas for the Hiro gig, Damien and Co. were playing for a small room and seemed to be winging it to a certain degree (and amusing themselves in the process), the Beacon gig was more polished and proved to be more of a performance. In particular, I, along the rest of the audience was captivated by his off-mike, solo on acoustic guitar rendition of "Cannonball." Simply stunning.

At numerous times, Damien did display that he does have the Irish gift of gab. Here's the final song from the evening, "Cheers, Darlin'" performed with guest openers Glen Hansard (of the Frames) and friends:


Overall, it was a good concert, but it could not top the Hiro show. I'm ready to move onto the next sensation.

Okay, time for bed -- I'll add more vids later!

Damien Rice @Hiro Ballroom, Nov. 16th

It had been almost two and a half weeks since I saw a concert. During that time, I went to Puerto Rico and have been helping build the new Kung Fu temple (I learned how to lay sheet rock!), but gosh, I felt like I've been in withdrawal!

Tonight headed after work with Bharat to check out Damien Rice at my favorite cool venue, the Hiro Ballroom. Now, I haven't gotten into Damien like the rest of the world has. Loved that "Blower's Daughter" song when it was used for the movie "Closer." But, for whatever reason, I couldn't get behind the mope.

Damien is a gifted singer and songwriter and tonight I had the luck and privilege to sit in the second row for this intimate gig. His voice was so beautiful, and he was supported by a talented band, including Lisa Hannigan, whose voice complimented Damien's so well, and Vivienne Long, whose cello helped augment the emotion that Damien thrusts into his songs.

For nearly two hours, Damien and Co. led us through a good mix of the two albums, "O" and "9." They looked like they were having tons of fun, especially when they did a goofy version of "Cheers, Darlin'" supplemented by red wine. I sure had a lot of fun watching them.



I'm glad I got to experience Damien Rice live in such a small venue. I think I might just have to check him out in a month when he plays at the Beacon...

Here's a pretty song -- "Delicate" -- from his first album:


Saw two of the Music Sluts there.

More pics on my Flickr, and more vids on my YouTube.