Ben Howard, SSE Hydro, Glasgow
Two stars
Jonathan Geddes
As support act Aero Flynn told us, this gig fell on Ben Howard's birthday. Given the ensuing set, one could only imagine that any celebrations consisted of morose faced individuals taking a lengthy time to eat an overcooked cake while barely speaking.
Howard's unlikely rise to arena status, over two albums, a couple of Brits and plenty of gigs, has been hard-earned, and, to his credit, he has stuck firmly to his guns. Anyone expecting a straightforward run-through of the hits was instead confronted by a different beast, perhaps explaining the melancholy audience atmosphere that lingered over the two hour performance.
Several songs from last year's I Forget Where We Were were extended, letting his backing band take the spotlight. This would have been fine in doses, but it was served up in tune after tune, resulting in meandering soft rock detours through the likes of Rivers In Your Mouth and the sluggish All Is Now Harmed. Accomplished, yes, exciting, no.
The singer himself cut a remote presence, barely engaging with the crowd. Imitating a particularly dull lamp is too distant a persona to work in a large setting, and even the catchy melody of Keep Your Head Up had a sludgy arrangement weighing it down, while a decent cover of Sharon Van Etten's Every Time The Sun Comes Up was not exactly what a Friday night crowd was requiring.
Howard clearly wants to explore different ideas, yet his admirable ambition has, unfortunately, now jarred with the fame he has. Solo versions of Old Pine and The Wolves provided a much needed kick to the encore, yet the fact it took the gig till then to come alive said it all.
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