David Ford live

by Rebecca Griffiths | February 27th, 2008 | ONLINE ONLY

Artist: David Ford
Venue: Fibbers
Date: 17th January 2008

Having seen David Ford play live six times in the last couple of months people might say there was not much he could do to make me love him any more, and to be honest his opening song choice in Fibbers, ‘State of the Union’, was no great surprise. However, even by the end of the song I knew that this was to be a gig unlike any other I had seen him play.

Ford, formerly of indie band Easyworld, has a core following of fans who tend to travel around the country to see his gigs, and he certainly played most of the songs you would expect him to play, such as ‘Cheer Up’ (with good sing along moments!), and the tear-jerking ‘I Don’t Care What You Call Me’. He couldn’t really play a concert without using his trusty loop pedal, probably the thing which he is most known for live, where he builds up the texture by adding a wide variety of instruments to the loops, until you feel as if there is a band of twenty on stage. Just when the music has reached a colossal level he cuts all sound off so suddenly, that the first time you see him live you are left in a state of awe.

However, with new arrangements of some of his songs, his multi-instrumentalist co-performer Hannah, and percussionist (if you can call playing an adapted hat stand a percussionist!), Ford got the closest to the musicians he has always said he finds influential, such as Tom Waits. He even threw in a Leonard Cohen cover, ‘Everybody Knows’, which was, frankly, wonderful. And to top all of that off, he played a new song he had never before performed live, which was beautifully written, and left me eager to hear more new music.

David Ford is a wonderful song-writer who knows how to write a great pop song; he may follow certain pre-existing formulas, but nevertheless he still has the ability to shock, and to excite emotions. So all in all, along with great support from two local bands, Ford gave everyone who made it down to Fibbers a gig they surely will never forget.