Dragged myself along to the Ruby Lounge in Manchester last night to see Ben Kweller. I say ‘dragged’ as I’m pretty knackered at the moment, what with all the work and training for LEJOG. Paul is a tired boy.
I reckon I’ve seen BK 6 times now and last night was almost, almost the best. That award goes to the gig he did at Night and Day back in 2004…
Anyway, didn’t hold out much hope last night when I got to the Ruby Lounge and my immediate tweet was “the ruby lounge is the worst gig venue in the world” – and it is. The stage is raised about a foot, so if you are not close to the front you aren’t seeing anything. The acoustics are good, though, and it’s very intimate.
So, I couldn’t see BK at all. Caught about 2 glimpses of him in the whole set. Didn’t matter though as he put on an amazing show. Accompanied by just his geetar, a piano and another chap on some peculiar instrument (couldn’t see it) he delighted the entire crowd with one of the most personal, improvised sets that I’ve witnessed by any artist.
The shouts for “sha sha” were answered with “aw, we ain’t played that in a looong time, let’s give it a try”. It was almost as if he just wanted to play what we wanted to hear, like he was in our front room. “Tylenol” and then “Lizzy” were also played at the crowds request.
The highlight though was “thirteen” off the last album. A beautiful, haunting song that hushed the entire room and I defy anyone to not admit that they were moved by the sound of that harmonica in the middle. Truly brilliant.
If you don’t know Ben Kweller you need to look him up. Go over to Amazon or iTunes and listen to some snippets. He’s heading in more of a country direction it seems (he is a Texan, after all), but the new songs all sounded strong.
After the gig he took time to meet the audience and sign stuff, including the new EP I picked up. It’s the second time I’ve had the chance to chat to BK and he comes across as a really nice guy. Would like to buy him a pint.
Anyway, he’ll be back in May he said. I’ll be there and if the gig is at the Ruby Lounge I’ll be sure to get there early. Those guys at the front would have been treated to an almighty show.
Bravo BK, bravo.
-pc.
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