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by Denis Armstrong De Burgh goes the distance Irish balladeer treats Ottawa crowd to a marathon setlist When it comes to a long concert set list, even music's reigning marathoner, "The Boss" Bruce Springsteen, would have a hard time keeping up with Chris de Burgh. The veteran Irish balladeer, who's been known more for his delicate falsetto voice and songs from around the world, isn't known for being a hard-rocking, long-playing ironman onstage. But last night at the Civic Centre, no one was complaining about not getting value for their ticket as de Burgh performed a set so long, he was still playing long after one deadline had passed. Currently on his global "The Road To Freedom" tour to launch his own Ferryman label, de Burgh played an astounding 42 songs in one three-hour g gig in Germany last week, and promised to do the same here. And like all marathoners, de Burgh's performance was a spectacular solo effort. Think of Celtic busker extraordinaire, one who has sold more than 45 million albums over 30 years, many of them in Canada. MELANCHOLIC MOOD The soft-spoken singer opened the show on a quiet note, striking a sentimental, even melancholic mood with the seasonal When Winter Comes with a voice that proved as comfortable as a fireplace on a dark, cold night, and suited the mood of his 5,000 adoring, well-mannered fans. The mood was casual and friendly as an Irish pub, with many fans singing Five Past Dreams, The Words 'I Love You', The Lady In Red and A Spaceman Came Travelling along with him. Not surprisingly, de Burgh only interrupted his set of romantic ballads with even more romantic stories. But these were the kind of love stories you don't hear very often, of couples who have lived together for 50 years, a mother's love for her soldier son on Borderline and a father's love for his daughter, as with Here For You, a song dedicated to his daughter Rosetta, who was Miss World. His voice strong and passionate, you could hear a father's love and pride. FLAMBOYANCE Occasionally, de Burgh showed flashes of flamboyance with the beer-barrel dervish Natasha Dance. Then, calling his set list "a trip around the world," he took a right turn on a rousing Lebanese Nights and A Rainy Night in Paris, on which he tried to be funny in the introduction, advising his middle-aged Canadian fans to speak English with a French accent, something he deemed irresistibly sexy. Is it possible that the civilized de Burgh was apparently unaware that a major portion of the house were francophones? Regardless, the house good-naturedly took his humour in stride. If de Burgh has a musical trump card, it would be his sincerity, which was genuine but hardly painful. He dedicated a new song, Songbird, to the memory of the brilliant singer Eva Cassidy. And who else could follow a musical speculation on the afterlife called St. Peter's Gate with a scathing medley mocking Britney Spears? It was a better gig than the one he did, also at the Civic Centre, in 2003. The only criticism I found was that all those brilliant de Burgh qualities might play bigger and better in smaller doses. REVIEW: Chris de Burgh Civic Centre 'Spectacular!' -- DENIS ARMSTRONG Sun Rating: 4 out of 5 denis.armstrong@ott.sunpub.com |
File last modified on August 26, 2006