PRETTY MUSICAL DREAMS IN CAMDEN

7 pm, Thursday 6^th of June 2013, The Barfly, Camden, London, the UK.

A small crowd is gathered; young and old, Londoners or foreigners; they are all here to celebrate the launch of Dave McPherson’s second solo album “Dreamoirs”.

Dave’s fans had to be a bit patient, though, to earn their prize in a very musical and pleasant way as they were offered to listen to two other artists: Hadleigh Ford and David Cavanagh (who came without his band “Anathema”).

Hadleigh Ford was a real treat and a great discovery. He had the tough job of breaking the ice and warming up a rather distracted audience. He started by telling us about Dave being his best man at his wedding and how their friendship was one of a kind. He then sang “Sounds like a Sunday” which caught the attention of the whole room. He got us all tangled with “My own worst enemy” and “Butterfly”. But it was really “My Biology” that left a mark in people’s mind: it is well written, catchy and the lyrics, which may appear light, hold a delightful second degree.

After assuring us that he would be “the drunk guy clapping and shouting at Dave in the corner of the room”, Hadleigh left the stage to Danny Cavanagh. He gave us an impressive reprise of the Pink Floyd’s famous track “Another Brick in the Wall”. The audience could not help but be impressed by the fantastic guitar solo of “Deep”. After a cover of “Big Love”, a song from the well-known rock band Fleetwood Mac, Cavanagh ended his performance with “Untouchable” getting us to sing and clap in time with him in some sort of warming up communion.

Then started what seemed to be a long waiting. The room was buzzing, the last spaces available filling in, the crowd slightly pushing to get closer to the stage, the Star Wars’ theme building even more the anticipation. At 9:30, casually arriving on the James Bond’s theme – “That wasn’t planned!” chuckled Dave – the InMe’s front man made his appearance! What I should let you know by now, and to give you a good idea of the atmosphere in the Barfly is that there was a drunk guy, randomly shouting. It was funny but could have become annoying if McPherson did not play the game.

After a great start to the gig with “Snowball”, a very rocky and touching ballad that satisfied the hungry audience’s appetite, our drunken friend started yelling again. Dave funnily complained about those “random noises” and our much-imbibed pal replicated “loud noises!” a reference to the comedy “The Anchorman” that made the whole room laughed warmly.

Ice broken, audience ravished and ready to give a great performance, McPherson accompanied by his band sang “Relics of Don Quichotte” and “Lady Luck”, one of my favourite songs from “Dreamoirs”. It goes about juggling between two different lives: being on tour and being home, being a much-acclaimed solo artist and a regular guy.

“Last year” is a song from Dave’s first solo album released in 2011, “The Hardship Diaries”. As a first solo record, it was mainly a break-up CD. Maybe that is why McPherson was a bit reluctant to play this song and we had to thank his band mates for pushing him to sing it again for us.

Wearing a colourful unicorn and rainbow t-shirt, InMe’s front man introduced his next song “Winter: Hibernation” by telling us it is about how he likes travelling, exploring new places, going to the beach, the countryside and walking in fields, adding that, because he doesn’t have a dog, he probably looks like a killer in the project.

Then came “The Wilderness” which is the first single of “Dreamoirs” that will be released soon. It is a very delicate ballad with a good rhythm and great drums. Definitely a good choice for a first single, if you ask me.

McPherson got us all dancing with “Before I even had you”, a song from his past solo record. He did bet that only ladies would move to this track but was wrong as we were all wobbling our heads, shifting weight from one leg to another in rhythm and shaking our behinds.

My ultimate favourite song from “Dreamoirs” was next! With some sort of counter time and very melodic changes, this tune definitely creates some sort of tsunami in my body. “Ambivert Melanconnoisseur” is about redemption and space travels, being some sort of musical U.F.O. And I suspect the author to be really proud of its weirdness.

Speaking of favourites, Dave’s own little personal pet of this album is “I’m Possible”. The lyrics are absolutely beautiful, telling us how it is like to see someone you really love and care about making mistakes in their life.

At this point, the band left: we gave Mike Curtis – Bassist, as tiny as a smurf (just quoting McPherson here!) -, Simon Taylor – Drummer, thanked by Dave for sticking around for so many years, which is quite rare- and Gary Marlow – guitarist and back singer – a round of applause for giving us such a thrilling evening.

It was just Dave left on stage. He got the crowd singing with “Love Rats”, a song he described to us like this: “first verse is about a girl that cheats on a guy, second verse is on a guy that cheats on a girl and the chorus gets a bit mixed up, we don’t know who cheats oh who!”

Finally, as a goodbye gift, InMe’s front man offered us a reprise of the famous nineties rap, “Boom shake the room”. Can I say that this last song was hysterical? It was a very special experience, very funny yet impressive that got the audience tangled and in need of more. Sadly, it had to end!

To be honest, I didn’t know much about Dave McPherson before getting the album and going to his concert. But he got me in!

Listening to the album is a totally different experience than seeing him live. The record makes it more personal and let you pay more attention to the beautiful lyrics and their meaning while the live performance carries you away with a more intense insight on the music itself. Dave McPherson is very laid-back and warm with his audience, talking about his life; giving away anecdotes and making the gig feel like an intimate reunion.

“Dreamoirs” is a very well dreamt and build album, giving food for thoughts, ballads for the heart, music to dance and many subjects to reflect on. Like a dream, this album will take you to unsuspected lands and to weird situations. You’ll wish you’d never wake up from “Dreamoirs”.

 Miss DiversiT