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3.24.2003
Concert Review: Damien Rice @ Joe's Pub
It's just amazing how much sound comes out of Irish singer-songwriter Damien Rice. Armed with only a guitar and a vocoder (and occasionally a cello and a solo female backup) , Rice manages to transmit more energy than most full out rock bands, with tons more heart to boot. Already a star in his native Ireland, the scraggly and invitingly shy musician comes to the States with a set that builds on, rather than abandons, his previous melancholy and lyrical David Grey meets Nick Drake sound. The Damien Rice who performed last night at Joe's Pub has transformed himself from Hurt Lover to Scorned Lover, going from plaintive regret to vicious accusations in the span of a bruised heartbeat.
While his first album O was a refreshing jolt to the moody boy singer-songwriter genre, kept to bare bones and filled with inventive lyrics like "Still a little bit of your taste in my mouth/ Still a little bit of you laced with my doubt/ Still a little hard to say what's going on", Rice's new stuff, some from the UK EP Woman Like a Man and much of it unreleased, is stronger both in terms of lyrics and music. The mopey and dejected boyfriend has found his natural alter-ego, The Guy Who Won't Let Go, and yeah- it's a little scary, but as the largely female audience attests to, nothing is more compelling than a dangerous sensitive guy. When Rice sings on The Blower's Daughter that he "can't take my eyes off of you" over and over again, it's sweetly romantic and frighteningly stalkerish at once.
I have a feeling Mr. Rice will be around for a while. His versatility as a musician, his ample and varied songwriting ability (He's not all serious as the lyrics from The Professor illustrate: "Loving is good if your dick's made of wood/ And the dick left inside only half understood her/ What makes her come and what makes her stay?") and yes, the fact that he's a really cute Irish boy, make him the kind of artist you want to keep your eye and ear on for a long time to come.
Damien Rice will play Tuesday, March 25 at Joe's Pub, April 28th @ TTS in Cambridge,MA, May 15th @ The Cotton Club in Atlanta,GA, May 17th @ Rudyard Kipling in Louiseville, KY, and May 22nd @ 400 Bar in Mineapolis, MN. More dates are forthcoming. Tickets available through Ticketmaster. Visit Damien Rice and download songs on the web at www.damienrice.com
*special thanks goes to Chris VanE. for introducing me to Rice.
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