sat 02/11/2024

Way to Blue: The Songs of Nick Drake, Barbican | reviews, news & interviews

Way to Blue: The Songs of Nick Drake, Barbican

Way to Blue: The Songs of Nick Drake, Barbican

Great music talents subsume ego for a visionary

The late Nick Drake: a hard act to interpretIsland Records

The dominant look among all ages of the sell-out audience at the Barbican Hall last night was distinctly “smart-Bohemian”, with plenty of thick-rimmed specs, duffle coats and subtly outré hairdos visible as they took their seats and gave one another knowing nods on spotting the “Fruit Tree” motif in the stage décor. For Nick Drake, the fragile Cambridge-born singer-songwriter who died of an overdose of antidepressants in 1974 aged 26, is perhaps the perfect cult artist: utterly singular, too intense and serious to be appreciated in his short lifetime, but increasingly influential on the mainstream with each passing year.

The dominant look among all ages of the sell-out audience at the Barbican Hall last night was distinctly “smart-Bohemian”, with plenty of thick-rimmed specs, duffle coats and subtly outré hairdos visible as they took their seats and gave one another knowing nods on spotting the “Fruit Tree” motif in the stage décor. For Nick Drake, the fragile Cambridge-born singer-songwriter who died of an overdose of antidepressants in 1974 aged 26, is perhaps the perfect cult artist: utterly singular, too intense and serious to be appreciated in his short lifetime, but increasingly influential on the mainstream with each passing year.

Comments

I went to the following night's performance (at Warwick Arts Centre) and agree with every single word the reviewer has written - an absolutely spot on review. A wonderful, wonderful night of Nick's music that started off ominously with some reasonably poor vocal renditions. However by the time the end of the second half approached, there was not a person in the room who wasn't secretly hoping Joe Boyd would come out and announce it was being for it to be extended by at least another 45 mins! The only thing the review misses out is emphasising how fantastic the backing orchestra and musicians were in performing Kirby's score.

I went to the following night's performance (at Warwick Arts Centre) and agree with every single word the reviewer has written - an absolutely spot on review. A wonderful, wonderful night of Nick's music that started off ominously with some reasonably poor vocal renditions. However by the time the end of the second half approached, there was not a person in the room who wasn't secretly hoping Joe Boyd would come out and announce it was being for it to be extended by at least another 45 mins! The only thing the review misses out is emphasising how fantastic the backing orchestra and musicians were in performing Kirby's score.

I too went to the Warwick show, had a fantastic evening. However, I must disagree with the review above in one respect, Scott Matthews the West Midlands 'newcomer', who I've seen four times over the last three years was one of my highlights. The way his voice soars takes your breath away, a cross between Nick Drake and Tim Buckley, not bad eh!

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