I didn't know what to expect when I booked tickets to see Badly Drawn Boy in Exeter, back in the heady days of my youth I was taken by Damon Goughs (BDB) lyrics and melancholy tunes, they are honest and heartfelt. Last night in Exeter I felt I was privileged to see this funny, talented and quite humble guy and his guitar perform a very intimate gig for me and my daughter who had never heard of him. She came out of the gig a fan.
This was his last gig of the tour and we were entertained with music and whitty banter in equal amounts. It was a 25th anniversary tour and Damon took us back to his humble roots in Manchester and lead us on an incredible journey through the Hacienda to LA and Dunstable and penning some classic ballads along the way. We were fully immersed in the mad life of the Badly Drawn Boy, he opened about mental health issues and touched on crohn's disease and dealing with the death of his brother during the lock down madness all helped make this a very personal gig.
As he guided us through his biographical soundtrack we were touched by how much of his music was influenced by Bruce Springsteen especially Thunder Road and Born to Run. Bruce also an honest and a humble guy, singing about real issues and hardships, I can see why Damon was drawn to his music. One hit after another from 'The Shinning' to 'Pissing in the Wind' you sometimes forget how many he had. Then came his final song a version of 'Thunder Road' that eerily seemed like the final curtain was brought down on his touring career. You can see that he's not a natural showman and doesn't really enjoy being in the limelight as he said at the beginning of the set, he wanted to be a sound engineer not a musician. I hope not I think he has more to give.
He hasn't recorded any new music since his brother death it must have thrown him sideways, but I hope he manages his mental health issues and uses writing music again as a cathartic way of healing his very beautiful soul.
My daughter and I were treated to 2 hours of musical pleasure including all the hits and more in the weird and wonderful world that is Badly Drawn Boy.