Last Tuesday I had the privilege of seeing Gavin live for the first time. Having been a fan of his since the first album Chariot back in 2003, which featured the song I Don't Want To Be, (which in turn shot Gavin to fame thanks to the TV show One Tree Hill having it as the "theme song") & missing out on seeing him live through the years, I was very excited to see if what I had read of his live shows was true. It certainly was! His vocal range is insane, & so damn effortless it makes me sick. Although the sound in the venue wasn't great (why do sound engineers not tell the bass player to turn his bass right up, then knock him down from the desk? Ruins almost every gig & drowns the vocals. Sort it!), his vocals still shone through & lived up to all I had read previously. Must give a mention to his band too, who were superb. Especially so the guitarist, Billy Norris, who gave the impression that he would be a very capable frontman & singer if he should chose to go in that direction later in his career.
HIGHLIGHT: Gavin's cover of Marvin Gaye's Let's Get It On. A sensational song to cover, and one that so many people know so well, but Gavin really made it his own. With just his piano for company he explained how it was a song he used to sing in bars when he was trying to forge himself a music career. From the first note to the last the audience was captured, especially as it was Valentine's day, but his effortless vocals & superb piano playing were a joy to behold.
GRIPE: Sound quality was poor, especially the bass guitar being to high in the mix. Also must mention the drunken German lads who's haircuts & dodgy facial hair were amusing to begin with but got more annoying as their alcohol consumption grew.
Support: Juan Zelada - Didn't know anything about this guy before the show but from what I heard live & what i've listened to since I like it a lot. There's a quote on his website that says "Its sound is still hard to pigeonhole – the closest anyone has come is “Ben Folds Five meets Dave Matthews Band” Well that's alright by me. I'd add John Mayer & Ben's Brother & Jon Allen to that list. Very nice sound, & he studied in my hometown at LIPA too. Can't be bad.
If you've not heard of Gavin's music I can highly recommend his first album Chariot. Also check out Stay off his album Free & Spell It Out from the newest album Sweeter.
No comments:
Post a Comment