Duncan Sheik Concert Reviews

Rating: 9

Name: Alex

Date: 1998-11-22

Venue: Belly Up Tavern, San Diego, CA, USA

Experienced: At the venue

Email: wapierce@worldnet.att.net

The Belly Up Tavern is one of the last buildings on Solana Beach's "new, improved" S. Cedros Avenue to resist remodeling. What with the multitude of "new age chic" stores that have popped up recently, it would have been nice if the Belly Up would have at least considered expanding two or three feet. "Intimate" and "crowded" are only a few feet away from each other. Also, they play way too much current country music before and during their shows.
Overall, the show seemed to run without any delays, which was impressive. Hooverphonic opened up, and as much as I'd like to say I was impressed, unfortunately I've already heard Lush, Cocteau Twins, and Portishead. They were stuck in Portishead emulation mode for most of their set. While imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, there's a fine line between being influenced by someone, and making a smudgy carbon copy of another band's music. Anyway, "I-Can't-Believe-It's-Not-Portishead" played for forty five painful minutes.
Duncan's guitarist, Gerry Leonard, played three songs from his "Spooky Ghost" cd before Duncan went on. Very pleasant, ambient guitar, pretty instrumental, relaxing...all good things to listen to at home, and in the presence of a well-behaved crowd, but the handful of power-drinkers at the Belly Up didn't seem to appreciate it. Memo to Leonard, and Duncan: I apologize profusely for the behavior of some of the galoots I share a zip code with. This is what happens to people who were really popular and evil in high school (or at least that's how I try to reconcile my disgust with them).
Duncan was, in a word, perfect. He was everything I expected, and more. I'm not sure if this was intentional or not, but when he first started playing, the back label on his sweater was sticking out, which I found endlessly endearing. It's so refreshing in this era of image over music to see a performer who is unabashedly concerned with making beautiful music (and not getting a glossy into "Jane"), and, besides, I forget to tuck my shirt labels in all the time.
Since I was able to snatch up a copy of the set list, here's how it went down:Rubbed Out, She Runs Away, Alibi, In The Absence Of Sun, A Body Goes Down, Wishful Thinking, Nothing Special, Varying Degrees Of Con-Artistry, That Says It All, Serena, In Between, Barely Breathing, Bite Your Tongue, Home, House Full of Riches. All I can really say about the set in its entirety is that it was flawless, and stunning. I was disappointed when I first saw the setlist, because I really wanted to hear "The End of Outside", but, in retrospect, I have no complaints. "House Full Of Riches" is such a powerful song, it was a perfect final number.
Final Score:9 (minus one for Hooverphonic)

Back

Rating:	9
Name:	Alex
Date:	1998-11-22
Venue:	Belly Up Tavern, San Diego, CA, USA
Experienced:	At the venue
Email:	wapierce@worldnet.att.net
	The Belly Up Tavern is one of the last buildings on Solana Beach's "new, improved" S. Cedros Avenue to resist remodeling. What with the multitude of "new age chic" stores that have popped up recently, it would have been nice if the Belly Up would have at least considered expanding two or three feet. "Intimate" and "crowded" are only a few feet away from each other. Also, they play way too much current country music before and during their shows. Overall, the show seemed to run without any delays, which was impressive. Hooverphonic opened up, and as much as I'd like to say I was impressed, unfortunately I've already heard Lush, Cocteau Twins, and Portishead. They were stuck in Portishead emulation mode for most of their set. While imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, there's a fine line between being influenced by someone, and making a smudgy carbon copy of another band's music. Anyway, "I-Can't-Believe-It's-Not-Portishead" played for forty five painful minutes. Duncan's guitarist, Gerry Leonard, played three songs from his "Spooky Ghost" cd before Duncan went on. Very pleasant, ambient guitar, pretty instrumental, relaxing...all good things to listen to at home, and in the presence of a well-behaved crowd, but the handful of power-drinkers at the Belly Up didn't seem to appreciate it. Memo to Leonard, and Duncan: I apologize profusely for the behavior of some of the galoots I share a zip code with. This is what happens to people who were really popular and evil in high school (or at least that's how I try to reconcile my disgust with them). Duncan was, in a word, perfect. He was everything I expected, and more. I'm not sure if this was intentional or not, but when he first started playing, the back label on his sweater was sticking out, which I found endlessly endearing. It's so refreshing in this era of image over music to see a performer who is unabashedly concerned with making beautiful music (and not getting a glossy into "Jane"), and, besides, I forget to tuck my shirt labels in all the time. Since I was able to snatch up a copy of the set list, here's how it went down:Rubbed Out, She Runs Away, Alibi, In The Absence Of Sun, A Body Goes Down, Wishful Thinking, Nothing Special, Varying Degrees Of Con-Artistry, That Says It All, Serena, In Between, Barely Breathing, Bite Your Tongue, Home, House Full of Riches. All I can really say about the set in its entirety is that it was flawless, and stunning. I was disappointed when I first saw the setlist, because I really wanted to hear "The End of Outside", but, in retrospect, I have no complaints. "House Full Of Riches" is such a powerful song, it was a perfect final number. Final Score:9 (minus one for Hooverphonic)