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inulroMy otherwise stressful and lousy week was immensely improved by going to see Duke Special on Thursday evening.
I wasn't sure what to expect. I've seen him before with the full band, but this tour is a solo - just him and his piano, and some old black and white films projected onto a bass drum at the back.
He came onto stage carrying a suitcase, which turned out to contain song sheets! I've been going to gigs for a lot of years, but I've never had that happen before. This was a big hit with the crowd.[1]
The set was a good mix of new material (a new album is in the works), songs from the last album, a couple of old music-hall standards (cue the audience participation part) and a surreal cover of "I feel for you". I didn't think "Freewheel" would work without the band (lots of horn crescendos), but he played a re-worked version of it that was simply stunning.
The whole show was amazing.
[1] Speaking of the crowd, the last time I saw him, the crowd ranged in age from 18 to way older than me. This time the crowd was much older. Odd.
I wasn't sure what to expect. I've seen him before with the full band, but this tour is a solo - just him and his piano, and some old black and white films projected onto a bass drum at the back.
He came onto stage carrying a suitcase, which turned out to contain song sheets! I've been going to gigs for a lot of years, but I've never had that happen before. This was a big hit with the crowd.[1]
The set was a good mix of new material (a new album is in the works), songs from the last album, a couple of old music-hall standards (cue the audience participation part) and a surreal cover of "I feel for you". I didn't think "Freewheel" would work without the band (lots of horn crescendos), but he played a re-worked version of it that was simply stunning.
The whole show was amazing.
[1] Speaking of the crowd, the last time I saw him, the crowd ranged in age from 18 to way older than me. This time the crowd was much older. Odd.
