Damien Rice.
The stage was dark and empty, then a man emerged with his guitar. That was all that was needed for the sold-out “Damien Rice Live in Bangkok” concert held last Thursday at BCC Hall, CentralPlaza Lardprao.
Sombre and grey was the general mood of the evening, interspersed with random humour from Rice. The melancholy of the Irish artist’s voice hung above us like a cloud full of emotion, despair and love, which came out in all his hits and audience favourites: The Blower’s Daughter, 9 Crimes, Cannonball, Volcano, Amie, The Greatest Bastard, I Don’t Want To Change You and more.
In the beginning, Rice appeared onstage as a silhouette amid red lights. His fingers were light on his acoustic guitar. And it was just him — no band, no special effects — a musician lost in his own world. Lighting was minimal, making him a flickering sight as though he wasn’t entirely present. And there were no flashy LED screens to divert our attention. Throughout the entire night, we weren’t able to tear our eyes away as he slowly bared his soulful voice to the crowd.
Rice’s show was a fine example of how less can be so much more. Other artists may be fretting over fancy props or over-the-top graphics, but not Rice. He only had what he needed to make music. Just a man in the middle, with his instruments surrounding him. Oh, and there was no cliché waving of smartphone lights either.
And that was probably my favourite thing about his performance — the simplicity of it — with just us enjoying and appreciating music in its entirety without all the façade of modern showbiz. Everything felt so empty and yet so powerful at the same time.
Rice was his own band, shifting from one instrument to another — from guitars to clarinet and drums. With the aid of effect pedals and a loop station, he generated a one-man performance with the kind of ease that comes from sheer talent. His quick wits were obvious when he wrote a song on the spot, based around a mispronounced khob khun — or “thank you” — from a set of chords picked by the audience.
As interesting as the multi-instrument music sounded, Rice’s performance shone best with minimal intervention from technology. His voice and the crisp melody of his guitar would’ve been just right for the two-hour show. All the mixing and distorting of sound became, at times, just a little too grainy and loud over the hall’s PA system.
Venue-wise, BCC Hall provided quite an intimate setting, with just 1,500 seats for the night’s gathered crowd. There would’ve been better things to say about the place if the air-conditioning hadn’t given out halfway through the show. So there we were with sweat trickling down our backs, listening to lonely tunes and thinking what a great night it was. Rice’s live performance was truly something that just had to be experienced, and even the heat wasn’t able to kill the buzz for us.
It may not have been the right kind of place, but was it still all right? It definitely was.
This source first appeared on Bangkok Post Lifestyle.