Show Review

It is rare when you attend a concert and leave not wanting to change a thing. Like almost everything, touring night after night has its flaws—musicians get tired, songs become boring, and smelly rock clubs become, well, smelly. And although the Pageant is quite the opposite of smelly, it was the setting for Damien Rice’s brilliance and destruction as he played to an audience for the first time in St. Louis.

Let’s face it, Rice has talent. Bursting onto the singer/songwriter scene with his album O, Rice, a native of Ireland, has quickly built a strong following in the United States with his emotional lyrics and steady radio play. And throughout his two-hour performance, you could argue that Rice will be able to stick around and build on his already strong foundation.

Unfortunately, you could also make a strong case that he could play himself into a Neil Young 1980’s-type funk, where his passion for creativity might be able to get the best of him.

Nonchalantly emerging from backstage, Rice was joined onstage with cellist Vyvienne Long, bassist Shane Fitzsimmons, Tomo on drums, and sultry vocalist Lisa Hannigan, who also occasionally played keyboards (she also picked up a guitar, but it was hard to tell if she actually played it). The evening started out with a bang as Rice passionately nailed a new song called “Sand,” while demonstrating a Dave Mathews-type stage presence with his guitar. Rice continued to impress on “Volcano,” which drew many cheers from the crowd, as he and Hannigan shared vocals while he fooled around with looping his voice and guitar, showing the first signs of his need to experiment. It wasn’t quite the mastery of Keller Williams, but it still worked to his advantage—at least on this particular tune.

However, what happened next was a mix of beauty and utter confusion. As the band left the stage, Rice told a humorous story about a young man and the stars, which led into “Amie,” a gem off of O. As he sang alone at the microphone, Rice went for the jugular, possibly giving one of the best single performances I have seen this year. The problem with saying that is that I am still not sure if the song ever ended, as Rice extended the tune into a lengthy sonic experiment, which sounded as if a spaceship had landed on top of Rice’s tour bus; the noise eventually led into a screaming fit which formed another new song, “Tongue.”

It was a confusing move, as Rice had already neatly captured the audience’s attention with his simple magic, which could have lasted the entire show. If nothing else, he probably should have tried this later on and not at the end of the third song, as he seemed to lose an audience that really wanted to be in love with his art. To his credit, Rice actually apologized for the move, calling it “loose” and “sloppy,” and admitting, “it didn’t work tonight.” As he stumbled to find a rapport with the crowd, he then promised to “play songs off the record.” Rice made good on his promise, seeking shelter in his hit, “Cannonball,” while also shelling out “Older Chests” and “Delicate,” as he tried to gain some confidence.

Maybe wanting to gain too much trust, Rice then spontaneously took a request from a fan, which happened to be an obscure song called “Woman Like a Man.” This turned out be another bad move, as he lost his band with his choppy guitar solos as the main set came to a close.

The encore started just as strange, with a cover of “Come Together,” performed only by Long on cello and Tomo on drums. Rice eventually made it back to the stage for “Cold Water” and “Eskimo,” before handing the show off to Lisa Hannigan, who sang beautifully on “I Remember,” and opening act The Frames, who tackled Pink Floyd’s “Shine on You Crazy Diamond.” And as Rice hid in the background, you had to wonder what was going through the man’s mind. Here’s hoping that he is able to work out the kinks and put together a better all-around performance next time around.

Photo by Christian Payne - damienrice.com