Damien Rice live at The Apollo, Manchester.

After more than 5 years of wanting to participate in The Damien Rice Live Experience, I finally got my wish.
I've enjoyed major over-play of both "O" and his latest offering "9" and enjoyed what he had to say and how he said it so much, that I scouted around for even more. Collecting live, acoustic and non album tracks, as well as video clips kept me going through the quiet time in between the albums.

For me, he is everything a singer-songwriter should be. His personal lyrics, reflecting on past loves and losses evoke just the right amount of sadness and reflection. His slighty twisted lyrics and playful, sometimes foolery words make me cunjure up black and white scenarios as I try to make some kind of sense.
And what to make of the subliminal elephants?

A huge part of Damien Rice's music is Lisa Hannigan, a singer with the voice of an angel, who doesn't just compliment Damien with backing vocals, but shares vocal duties in many of his songs from both albums and beyond. In my opinion, she's not only a vital element for many of his songs, but she's also a critical ingredient for his live shows. I've seen loads of live clips and there's definately a chemistry there when they sing together.
The worst possible news broke 3 days before I was going to see him. The 'Official' announcement offers this; "After much thought and discussion Damien has decided that his professional relationship with Lisa Hannigan has run its creative course."
I knew I'd miss her being there, I guess I just didn't realise just how much.

The venue itself is great. Standing downstairs (although they have seated gigs too, when appropriate) with a sloping floor and seating upstairs on a balcony type affair. The whole 'look' of the place is perfect for a gig and I have to say it's one of the best 'smaller' venues I've been to. I'm sure I've been there before....5 or 6 years ago to see Prince in rare form.

The crowd certainly had atmopshere, but I wouldn't say it was 'anticipation' in a good way. It was almost like a smell of fear....fear of the unknown....fear of how the gig would go without such a prime character.
After the first couple of songs, the occasional voice could be heard, "Where's Lisa" and I think those were a good indication of the general feeling of the crowd. We felt her presence missing.

He began with "Woman like a man", a non album track that rocked out from beginning to end. The guitars were definately turned up and at several points even the drummer looked capable of breaking into a sweat. The sound mixing desk were slow as hell though, the result being his vocals being constantly drowned out and I couldn't actually hear his vocals properly until halfway through "Cannonball".
His set was chocfull of great songs, but he seemed to miss out a lot of what I would call 'fan favourites'; Cold Water, Elephant, Prague and Grey Room to name but a few, although there's only so much time, huh. "Volcano" was really good, "The Blower's Daughter" was lovely and "Accidental Babies" was a pure moment of emotion. Absolutely gorgeous.
"I Remember", which is one of my favourite songs was awful without Lisa. As was "Nine Crimes" and "The Professor".
With the songs with verses normally sung by Lisa, I'd have thought he'd have had a back up plan. Somebody else....another singer to take her place, even on a temporary basis, but no. Nobody....just Damien singing the parts in a different, usually higher key. Some songs weren't too bad, but some songs just didn't sound the same. I wonder if he'll ever replace her or just carry on as he is?

The whole gig was uncomfortable for me. The audience were restless, even heckling and shouting things out during the most innapropriate moments, making me feel very uneasy. There was an idiot Irish guy, out of his face on poppers, singing his head off, shouting things out and jumping around like he was at a Slipnot gig right in front of us. What are the chances, eh? I'm finding myself a 'Twat magnet' at gigs recently. The audience sung along at some of the most intimate moments, completely ruining the atmosphere that could have been.
There were too many negative emotions building up inside of me to say I enjoyed the gig. I have to say, I didn't. And I hate the fact that I didn't enjoy something that could have been....something that should have been completely mesmerising.
I feel somewhat cheated.
I feel terrible for saying or even thinking such a thing, because Damien Rice is indeed, still a musical genius as far as I'm concerned, but that pretty much sums up how I feel.
I've read some message board posts to see how other people felt and probably more than half the people who went said they thought it was amazing. So maybe I just ruined it for myself.