Venue:
Islington Assembly Hall
Date: 04/11/2019
It is 3 years since Dawes have been to the U.K and 4 years since I last saw them. Boy, have they been busy while they’ve been away. A growing fan base in the U.S (us Brits ‘got’ them first, which is why they played here a lot in the early days), a support slot with ELO and hundreds of gigs has meant that the band which almost sprinted on stage last night are now a tight, confident unit. Lee Pardini has developed into a wonderful keyboard player (one of his piano solos even had singer Taylor Goldsmith applauding), the rhythm section of drummer Griffin Goldsmith and bassist Wylie Gelber have become a rumbling steam train and Taylor’s guitar playing has gone up several notches. In short, this band have paid their dues in spades, and are now reaping the rewards.
The 1200 capacity venue was sold out and the roar after the first song told the band everything they wanted to know about whether the London audience was still there for them. Taylor bounced around the stage like the Duracell bunny, the harmonies were straight and true and the audience sang their heads off.
And why wouldn’t you? Taylor Goldsmith is one heck of a songwriter. The melodies are wonderful and he has a way with words that always keeps you listening. The setlist was a Greatest Hits tour through their 10 year history, with newer songs like Living In The Future and Crack The Case sitting perfectly amongst classics like A Little Bit of Everything and When My Time Comes. 16 songs raced by in the 100 minute set and, too soon, it was over.
The audience:
A good mix of Afterword friendly punters (and some Afterworders themselves) as well as some young people. They were noisy, sang well (so well that, when Taylor wasn’t expecting them to, he had to remove his ear-monitor so that he could hear what was going on) and left happy, with Taylor’s yell ringing in their ears,
“We’re not waiting 3 years to come back next time.”
It made me think..
Dawes have been my favourite American band for years. I have seen them 7 or 8 times, from rough around the edges, folksy, ‘just glad to be here’ to this – a powerful, muscle-car of a band, confident that they are really, really good.
And they are.
SETLIST SPOILER ALERT:
1.
If I Wanted Someone
2.
Feed the Fire
3.
Things Happen
4.
From A Window Seat
5.
That Western Skyline
6.
One Of Us
7.
Time Spent In Los Angeles
8.
Most People
9.
Crack the Case
10.
When The Tequila Runs Out
11.
Living in the Future
12.
Somewhere Along the Way
13.
A Little Bit Of Everything
14.
Roll With The Punches
15.
When My Time Comes
16.
All Your Favourite Bands
Jings, didn’t even know they were over. Lovely review, Niall. Plus some amusingly apt arf!
“A good mix of Afterword friendly punters (and some Afterworders themselves) as well as some young people”
Really piased off that I missed it and sorry had to let you down at the last minute @niallb. Really irritated that didn’t book it off as a days holiday.
Definitely be there at the next one so it better not be 3 years
It was me that posted A little bit of everything on here. I was in New York on business. WFUV played it one the radio and I told my colleague I am not going into the call until I have listened to this song and found d out who it is. By the end of the trip the album had been secured and the rest is history.
@SteveT You were missed, my friend. I’m back at the same venue next week for The Bros. Landreth but it’s a Thursday so Prawn on the Lawn will be open. I’ll send you photos of food porn.
See you soon x
Well, this is very depressing.
I had two tickets to this, but the GLW got flu – so badly that she ended up in hospital (has been there for nearly a week now!), so I couldn’t go as our only babysitter was already busy that evening.
I was hoping they were rubbish.
@niallb my only saving grace is that I have got Chip Taylor tomorrow night and the Delines on friday where I do actually have a day off.
Not content with rubbing my nose in it with a stellar review you then tease me with Prawn on the Lawn😄😄😄
Fecking Delines? Where?
@retropath2 Union Chapel in London.
That London….. Remember now, no Birmingham, bloody philistines.
It was my 4th time seeing them last night, the 3rd was at the same venue 3 years ago.
Very enjoyable set in a great venue. Anyone know what happened to Trevor, did he miss his plane?
Thanks for the review @niallb. I am now looking forward even more to the Dawes gig at Oran Mor in Glasgow tomorrow. I bought my tickets back in June and this will be the 4th time I have been at one of their gigs. This will be one of my ‘mystery gigs’ whereby my mate and I take turns at buying concert tickets. The ticket buyer keeps the identity of the artiste secret from the non-buyer. The result is that each of us has ended up attending gigs which he would otherwise never have considered. It was my turn to be surprised last Thursday when the band in question was Moon Duo. I thoroughly enjoyed it never having even heard of them. So, I am confident that my buddy will be suitably impressed on Wednesday.
⬆️⬆️ That’s a great idea, hats off!
I was @niallb ‘s date for the evening, as at our age, we’re grateful for any attention…we missed Steve T, but hoovered up a couple of plates of pasta in his absence
What @niallb hasn’t told us is that he had to charge off into the night, missing songs 15 and 16, tho I expect they were audible from the tube station.
Dawes were fab.The’ve developed a confidence onstage which really comes across and the
” This is the best show we’ve ever done,” schtick, didn’t really sound like schtick.
End of the Road or Green Man should stick them on.
They should, although EOTR has had them perform twice already. 3 times if you count the “secret” gig they did late night in the Tipi which i missed.
I saw them at Oran Mor, through in the weedge, on the final date of their tour. Niall’s review nails it but what a rush it must be for them to play thousands of miles from home, to packed-out audiences singing their songs back at them.