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Chris de Burgh
The road to freedom Solo tour of the UK October 2004
Performed by Chris de Burgh using a 12 string guitar and electric piano
Venue Usher Hall
Address Lothian Road
Date 6 October 2004
Reviewer Julian Davis
With 17 studio albums under his belt and performing an average
of one concert every 3 days for the last 30 years, Chris de Burgh
must be one of the most dedicated and hardworking musician/performers
ever. So it was with great expectation from an almost full Usher
Hall that they welcomed back a man who played his first Scottish
gig at this venue, sharing the bill with Gallagher& Lyle and
Supertramp and the cost of the entrance fee being 1 (no comments
about Scots liking value for money please!). This was the fourth
leg of a 15 venue UK tour before going on to Germany, France and
the Netherlands in November.
On a cool autumnal evening, it was almost fitting that Chris'
entrance was made through a small tubular arch to the strains of
the opening track from the new album The Road to Freedom When
winter comes, an instrumental piece which reminded me so much of
the ethereal music of Enya that I was convinced I would hear her
breathless tones cutting in. But this was the born again Chris de
Burgh, a man now launching his own record label and free from the
controlling demands of the recording moguls. Freedom can mean so
much on different levels, and this evening saw Chris have the
freedom to perform his songs in the way he wanted.
Chris de Burgh
Armed with his trusty piano and two 12 stringed guitars he
proceeded to offer many of the tracks from the new The Road To
Freedom album coupling them with a fairly comprehensive selection
of the old favourites to satisfy the demands of his immense
following. In true Celtic troubadour tradition he sang us stories
of life, death, relationships, the spirit and the seasons. Quiet
Revolution is described as a Celtic prayer for those in other parts
of the world that for all the differences of circumstance and
situation, still share the same sun and stars as we do. Last Night
from Into the Light is a poignant song of the futility of war and
the personal tragedies it engenders but you could easily close your
eyes and picture the scene like a camera panning in from the bay
across the mayor and the official celebrations and on up to a lady
in black and her thoughts of her son and the war many of Chris
songs are structured this way.
Five Past Dreams from the new album was introduced as an update on
the Lady in Red but it struck me as a much more mature and less
sugary offering and will be more universally accepted than its
predecessor which so sharply polarised musical opinion. Lonely Sky
not only showed that Chris has lost none of his phenomenal vocal
range but when he followed it up with Natasha Dance, his mock
Cossack dancing showed that physically he is still in great shape
too. Rainy Night in Paris epitomised not only the romance of that
city but, for me, it carried me back to my school days studying
Ernest Hemmingways A Farewell to Arms and the hero and heroines
escape from war-torn Europe to find an idyllic romantic life
together.
Chris not only sings songs well, but interacts extraordinarily with
his audience and a rather contrived situation about needing a
remote microphone so that he could walk about like Britney
resulted in him setting off panic amongst the Rock Steady security
when he wandered off the stage and down into the audience to a wave
of hugs, kisses and handshakes. He appeared to give me a quizzical
look as he passed by but then I was sitting noting everything down
and yes he is not very tall! He built on the emotion of this with
his anthemic Missing you before slowing it down again with the
beautiful Snow is falling which, although it has very thoughtful
lyrics, it was the video backdrop which caught my eye: a war
cemetery with its regimented layout being covered in snow right at
the end. Maybe there is another dimension to the song in that, yes,
there is a legacy of the worst parts of our history but when the
snow comes it covers everything over both in their own way being
great levellers!
Pandering to audience demands now, Chris turned to some of the
oldies - Borderline, A spaceman came walking and Spanish train. He
had dedicated Songbird as his tribute to the immense talent of the
late departed Eva Cassidy but it was his dedication of Carry me
(Like a fire in your heart) in memory of Hazel, the 21 year old
daughter of someone in the audience who died in a car crash that
brought a lump to the throat and a tear to the eye. Further new
songs Rose of England and The words I love you followed which
were extremely well received before Chris ramped it up again with
Lady in red, Where peaceful waters flow and the superb lyrics of
The journey. He then encouraged the audience to get up and dance
many responded and flocked to the front of the stage. Read My Name
is from the new album but it's sure to become an established
concert favourite as the devotees danced and clapped along and then
Dont pay the ferryman took the tempo up a further notch.
No-one could have doubted that a tremendous ovation would bring the
wee man out again to acknowledge the cheers and applause and there
was never going to be a doubt that his encore would include High on
emotion. That was followed by a more reflective Snows of New York
(from the 1994 album This Way Up) which returned the emotion to the
audience with the parting lines
You have always been such a good friend to me,
Through the thunder and the rain,
And when you're feeling lost in the snows of New York,
Lift your heart and think of me
Some 2 hours after the concert started, the house lights
signalled the end of an emotional and highly charged musical
extravaganza and despite still wanting more, the reluctant audience
trudged off into the cool Edinburgh (or Ed in Burgh as Chris would
have us believe) evening, stopping only to purchase merchandise
from the hard pressed Wayne/Chris on the way out (apparently all
the crew are called Chris). They hadnt heeded the warning not to
pay the ferryman before reaching the end of the journey, but I
didnt see any disappointed faces! The music was good, the rapport
between artist and audience was superb and the sound system was
excellent a good time was had by all!
Julian Davis 07/10/2004. Published on www.edinburghguide.com
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