Duke Special / Beth Rowley

The night began with the pleasant melodies of Beth Rowley. Her music was soulful and her voice angelic. The music did lack depth, however, often sounding limp and shallow even in the modest setting of Birmingham’s Academy two.

Simplicity is not necessarily a bad thing but it sounded as if this mellow, easy listening style would have been more at home in a restaurant. Saying that, though, there were some genuinely enjoyable moments where the empty sound actually worked to an effect, such as ‘Nobodys Fault but Mine’ where the bleak lyrics and bluesy composition complemented by the simplicity that left other songs lacking.

Perhaps the best way to describe the show is to report the crowd’s reactions. They all listened, as far as I could see, and seemed to enjoy it well enough, but when prompted to clap for one of the livelier songs, nobody moved a muscle. And it’s not the case that it was just a quiet crowd, as you will find out soon, but I think it was just that the audience weren’t inspired enough. Beth Rowley left the audience feeling more anticipation for the night’s main act after succeeding in taking their minds off it for a while. But that wasn’t the last we saw of her.



An interesting stage set up preceded the Irish musical wizard Peter Wilson who is Duke Special. A piano, a ridiculous amount of microphones and an equally ridiculous looking drum set with various wooden animal heads surrounding a snare and cymbals. This was crowned with a huge bass drum, bizarrely supported at head height. They began tentatively with a few well loved songs including ‘Everybody Wants a Little Something’ in which the communication and balance between the array of instruments was perfect, giving a tightness that did the truly original sound justice.



Original really is the word and no member of the band better illustrated this attribute than the percussionist ‘Chip Bailey’. Not only did he play his abnormal drum kit with skill and finesse but he also, at one point, skilfully implemented the percussive attributes of a cheese grater and a whisk. Nor was he disheartened when his whisk broke at which point he pulled out an insane home made staff of noisy delights which consisted of some kind of pan, a spring, a wooden block and a bell. Drumming was given a new meaning.

Interaction with the crowd increased the highly personal feel of the Academy 2 and gave way for some genuinely funny banter between him (excitedly telling of his joy when he saw ‘Duke Special’ above the entrance outside) and his fans (one of which replied with “Living the dream!”. The gap between the crowd and the band was even further reduced later when they introduced their last song, only to walk off the stage. Confused and excited the crowd waited. Then, all of a sudden there was a dreadlocked, accordion wielding Irishman walking in the midst of us lowly listeners followed by his band of very merry men.



The concert was concluded thus with the most intimate song I’ve ever seen performed. They were even kind enough to teach everyone the lyrics so we could shout “I’m gonna love you till you love me back!” and we could feel pleased with our minimal contribution to what was a fantastic and original experience.

FUTURE GIGS

sorry, we currently have no gigs listed for this act.