David Gray | from Manchester to Wales to the Pink Flamingo |
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"I was brought up in Manchester and I used to go to United's games when I was little. They've become phenomenally successful in the Nineties but I supported them when they were crap. I'm a big football fan and they're the biggest and best team" - David Gray
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David Gray | the 2005 tour
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Tue, Nov 29, 2005 |
Waterfront Hall Auditorium, Belfast
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Wed, Nov 30, 2005 |
Waterfront Hall Auditorium, Belfast |
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Sun, Dec 04, 2005 |
M.E.N Arena
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Mon, Dec 05, 2005 |
SECC, Glasgow |
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Thu, Dec 08, 2005 |
Bournemouth Internetional Centre |
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Thu, Dec 09, 2005
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Cardiff International Arena |
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Sat, Dec 10, 2005 |
Nottingham Arena |
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Mon, Dec 12, 2005 |
Carling Apollo Hammersmith |
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Wed, Dec 14, 2005 |
Carling Academy Brixton |
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David Gray | overlooked by many, now seen for the geius he is |
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David Gray was born in Manchester in 1970. By The time he was nine years old he had moved to Wales with his family where he was raised until he left to study at the University of Liverpool. He began playing in punk bands where he lived and also played in a few bands while at college where he began to experiment with a more poetic form of writing. After Liverpool he moved to London where he could be closer to the action and the heart of the music business. Here. he signed to Hut Recordings in the UK and Caroline in the U.S. His first release followed shortly afterwards ' the single 'Birds without Wings ' in 1992.
His debut album, A Century Ends was released to great acclaim in the first half of 1993- ten tracks of anger, love, passion and just about every other emotion you can think of. It has become a classic In its own right and succeeded in winning over |
a core of loyal followers who have stayed with him ever since. Following a full tour of Europe, David returned to record his second album Flesh which was again released on Hut Recordings in 1994. After Flesh was largely ignored by record buyers, David and Hut decided to part ways amicably. EMI records quickly snapped him up. Meanwhile his profile and popularity In Ireland began to rise rapidly. "No Disco" (Network 2's groundbreaking) alternative music programme hosted by the now legendary Donal Dineen) played his videos constantly as well as showcasing his live potential in televised sessions.
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Gray's third album Sell, Sell, Sell, was released only in the US in 1996. After the phenomenal success of White Ladder, it was finally released for the first time in the UK.
Live performances continued to be David Gray's forte. Enabling him to build up a gigging reputation that is second to none, and causing him to sell out venues whenever he tours. Additionally, his reputation won him a series of prestigious support slots with the likes of Radiohead to Dave Matthews.
Gray's fourth and most recent album, White Ladder. was self financed, recorded in a London Flat with the windows open and
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the trucks rumbling past, and is released in his own label IHT. It owes as much to the sampler as to the guitar but retains David's distinctive touches, the wishful vocals and sublime melodies. |
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White Ladder went straight into the Irish Top 30 And shot up the charts as his sold out December Tour of Ireland wended its way around the country. Meanwhile, 5 tracks from the album provided the backbone for the soundtrack of Kathy Burke's new film, " This Year's Love." As the world eased itself into 1999, "This Year's Love" was released as the first single from "White Ladder". The album refused to leave the Irish charts. "Babylon" was the second single taken from the album and was followed by sold out 4,500 capacity headline gig at the Big Beat Festival in Galway in July which only served to emphasize David's meteoric rise and brought the album into the Irish top 5(11 months after release).
It wasn't for another two years that David Gray released his next album, A New Day At Midnight. It's darker than its mega-hit
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predecessor, and deeper, and all the better for that. Emotionally fuelled by the death of Gray's father and the birth of his son, it possesses much the same tone as White Ladder, being simultaneously celebratory and troubled. The album, though, is slow starting. "Caroline", with its rattling percussion and quasi-Celtic pedal steel excursions is a bit messy, while "Long Distance Call", mixing an orchestra with electronic effects, is an interesting collage but not much of a song. Both give the impression that Gray's trying to appear more cutting-edge than he actually is. It's with "Freedom", when that big piano deepens and the pain enters his voice, that he really gets going. This leads to the excellent "Kangaroo" and "Last Boat to America", both yearning and teeming with striking lyrical images. Then it really takes off, with the Stones-y rock groove of "Real Love" and the gospel feel of "Knowhere", leading to the quite brilliant unrequited love song "Be Mine" and crushing
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closer "The Other Side".
Recorded between October 2003 and May 2005, David took a different approach to writing and recording Life In Slow Motion. Of the change, David says, "I don’t think you can remain the underdog forever and work in that way. I really wanted to get away from that lo-fi bedroom programming. All the records that have inspired me this time have been far more of a soundscape. The Sigur Ros records, Sparklehorse’s It’s A Wonderful Life, Lucinda Williams’ World Without Tears and albums like Deserter’s Songs, where things are more architectural." From the sparse, structured intro of the opener, "Alibi", a song David
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describes as ‘like "Babylon" Part 2 but more abstract... catching up with the character a few years down the line when they’re a bit worse for wear,’ to "The One I Love", as beautiful a song about bleeding to death as you’re ever likely to hear, and the inspirational fire of "Nos Da Cariad" (Welsh for ‘Goodnight Sweetheart’) it’s clear that Life In Slow Motion is a distinct departure from his earlier work. Two compositions on Life In Slow Motion - "From Here You Can Almost See The Sea" and "Ain’t No Love"--come from David’s work on the soundtrack for Amma Assante’s debut film A Way Of Life (released in 2004). The songs landed David a 2005 BAFTA Anthony Asquith Award nomination for Best New British Composer. |
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