who: dry the river
where: electric ballroom, camden town, london, uk
when: 2 may 2012
support: tall ships; bowerbirds
a trip to london usually includes a dry the river gig, so of course this little visit was no exception. the electric ballroom is (from the outside) by far not the most impressive venue ever but once you step inside it’s easy to forget that the sign above the front door is broke. walking by there i honestly didn’t even notice the sign at first. what’s on the outside has nothing to with what you find on the inside though. the sold out show at the electric ballroom was their biggest headline show to date.
tall ships were kicking off the night. the trio from brighton delivered a decent set with a slightly louder and more aggressive sound than dry the river. but as every other band, the guys from tall ships have some more mellow tunes too and that’s where their lead singer could show off his vocal talent. not quite my taste, nevertheless easy to listen to and probably a treat for fans of a similar sound.
when dry the river announced bowerbirds as their second support band a day before the show, things got even more exciting. knowing i would have to miss them a few days later in manchester, this was a really nice surprise. and the 5 piece from raleigh, north carolina did not disappoint. their more or less typical folk songs do not only come across great on record but live as well. lacking a bit of stage presence whatsoever, it was more the listening than the watching that grabbed me in the end and i guess that’s what counts in the end, so catch them live if you can.
after seeing dry the river quite a few times since i first saw them at the haldern pop festival in germany last year, it seems like they’re taking a step forward with every single show they play. even though the setlist is still not as varied as it probably could be (why did they stop playing the chambers and the valves?), they manage to get the crowd going every single time which, of course, is not at all surprising considering their live quality.
after opening with their debut single no rest, they played their way through almost the entire list of their debut album shallow bed with shield your eyes and shaker hymns still being my personal highlights. the audience seemed to appreciate the mesmerising weights & measures the most though, starting completely unplugged, the crowd joined in as soon as lead singer peter liddle (photo on the right) started filling the room with his haunting vocals, singing “i was prepared to love you, never expect anything of you…”. the incredibly gorgeous bible belt with lines like “the trick of it is, don’t be afraid anymore” marked the end of their main set.
said many many times before, the dry the river boys are not exactly fans of encores but as the crowd kept cheering, we didn’t need to ask them twice to return to the stage. and if we would’ve known to what kind of encore they would treat us, we sure would’ve made even more noise. back on stage, they were joined by all members of tall ships and bowerbirds. accompanied only by matthew taylor (dry the river) on acoustic guitar, they all sang down in the river to pray together. the original by alison krauss is already insanely beautiful but i’m sure i wasn´t not the only one who thought the dry the river/tall ships/bowerbirds version was equally moving, if not even better. lion’s den then proved to be the perfect end to a great show, starting quiet before working up their way to a massive end. judging by the expressions on their faces, the band enjoyed themselves just as much as we did, perhaps even more. their folk-rock sound just never fails to impress and if they keep doing what they do best, playing live shows, i’m sure we’ll hear a lot more of these guys in the future.
setlist
no rest
shield your eyes
history book
new ceremony
family
shaker hymns
demons
weights & measures
(instrumental)
bible belt
encore
down in the river to pray (cover)
lion's den
dry the river + tall ships + bowerbirds...
...singing down in the river to pray.
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