Boston Globe Review
 

"Heartthrob Rice doesn't generate much heat
By James Reed, Globe Staff | December 13, 2006

Damien Rice would be so nice to come home to. A scruffy Irishman clad in a brown corduroy jacket with a clutch of sensitive songs, he's the Dom Perignon of male singer-songwriters who moonlight as heartthrobs. Definitely a notch or two above James Blunt's "You're Beautiful" pandering.

So why, then, was Monday night's show at the Orpheum Theatre so oddly uncompelling?

The elements were in place, starting with an enthusiastic crowd composed of couples canoodling as if they were at a "Sleepless in Seattle" screening.

With longtime singing sidekick Lisa Hannigan backing him up (especially well on "The Professor"), Rice sang and played his guitar beautifully, putting the softest lilt at the end of his notes and knowing exactly when to pause for effect. When he got behind a piano to sing "Accidental Babies," from his new album, "9," it was a marvel of intimacy, enough so that you could almost forgive him for lyrics such as, "And is he dark enough?/ Enough to see your light?"

But several songs dragged on to insufferable lengths. "Amie," a ballad flush with strings on the album "O," morphed into a 10-minute prog-rock jam that spiraled into a spasm of bombast. (Who knew you'd need earplugs at a Damien Rice show?) It was a nice thought to mix it up, but Rice's songs aren't substantive enough to be deconstructed in such a belabored manner. He rebounded with a segue into "Eskimo," as delightful live as on record. If only he could have trimmed the fat from more of his songs.

Rice's one truly inspired moment was to play "The Blower's Daughter," beloved as the tender ballad in the film "Closer," as a death-metal version replete with distorted guitars and feedback. The guys in the audience loved it. The ladies? Not so much. "Play it for real!" came the plaintive cry from a female in the back. He did not. Uh-oh. There went his heartthrob cred."

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/liv...ate_much_heat/

Herald Review
 

And one more for the Boston crew...

"Overcooked Rice difficult to digest
By Christopher Blagg
Wednesday, December 13, 2006

No musician likes to be a slave to audience expectations. But Irish balladeer Damien Rice was a bit too preoccupied with breaking free of his softy tag Monday night at the Orpheum. Sometimes it’s prudent to just stick with what got you there.

Touring in support of his sophomore release, “9,” Rice took as much time fiddling with loops, wah-wah pedals and distortion effects as he did finding the emotional core of his songs. The sold-out crowd may have screamed allegiance at every turn, but it was obvious more than a few fans wanted less edgy posturing and more of the Rice they thought they knew.



The show got off to a pleasant start, with Rice strumming the obscure “Sand” solo. Vocalist Lisa Hannigan joined in soon after to trade verses on the lovely “La Professor and La Fille Danse.” The pair’s vocal interplay and harmonies were outstanding.

Unfortunately, Rice’s need to flex his anger muscles popped up early and often with tunes such as the menacing “Face,” which found the singer screaming into his microphone to the point of distortion. Granted, a set composed entirely of Rice’s quieter tunes would make for a rather sleepy show, but his attempts at mixing things up seemed forced.

Rice’s penchant for morbidity and depressiveness remained, exemplified by the interminable jilted-lover piano ballad “Accidental Babies.” The dreary mood was immediately lightened with cellist Vyvienne Long’s mock-serious interpretation of the Flaming Lips’ “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots.”

A silly death-metal version of Rice’s big hit “The Blower’s Daughter” may have been funny for one verse, but he kept up the gag for the entire tune, prompting a woman in the crowd to shout for the singer to “sing it the proper way.”

Perhaps the most poignant moment came on the encore, when Hannigan emerged by herself and sang the mournful traditional ballad “Blow the Winds Southerly.” Rice and the rest of the band returned to finish the show with lovely versions of “Cannonball,” “9 Crimes” and “Rootless Tree.” For Rice, the lesson is clear: Keep it simple, stupid.

Irish cult hero Glen Hansard, the lead singer of the Frames, opened with his new side project, the Swell Season. The talented songwriter’s rakish charm and dynamic presence combined with his band’s autumnal grace were enough to upstage the young upstart headliner."

http://theedge.bostonherald.com/musi...ticleid=171713

Naveed,

What type of computer do you use? I'd be willing to help you find the right flac converter for your computer. I'll even write simple instructions for decoding and burning the shows you retrieve. It's extrememely easy once you have gone through the process once.

daveydave

I use xAct on my Mac. And for PCs, FLACFrontend is good, I believe. Both are free and extremely easy to use (drag-and-drop, essentially).

those reporters were harsh... i think they should stick to album reviews... they obviously did no research on damien and knew nothing about him and his disdain for the expected...

I like bt.etree.org because dimeadozen.org has a limited number of members and does not let any new members sign up. Let us know when the show is up and thanks so much for taping!

Monday's Show
 

I thought the show on Monday night in Boston was pretty bad. Wasn't happy with the song choice really, and what was up with those ultra bright halogen lamps they had aimed at the crowd, they literally blinded me.

The halogen lights are common in a lot of concerts these days. Its cool to see everything lighted up..


Personally, this concert was amazing. Yes, it was out of the ordinary but thats exactly what made it so special. Think about the show and his TBD rendition, his communication with the crowd, him playing songs like face and sand, telling stories before a lot of the songs... thats stuff that you would know as special if you were an avid listener of damien. Its not like the didnt play the beautiful stuff too.. accidental babies, grey room, the professor was absolutely breathtaking..
Everyone on these boards knows that a show like that is special..

It was a great show, one of the best concerts ill go to in a long time
Had the opportunity to talk a bit with Vyv, Shane and Lisa after the show too... very very very nice, cultured people

"Unfortunately, Rice’s need to flex his anger muscles popped up early and often with tunes such as the menacing “Face,” which found the singer screaming into his microphone to the point of distortion. Granted, a set composed entirely of Rice’s quieter tunes would make for a rather sleepy show, but his attempts at mixing things up seemed forced. "


****ing moron. it's a distortion mic and intentional. they lose all credibility as a reviewer of live shows right there IMO these idiots need to start taking the show for what it is and quit the "it sucked b/c it didn't sound soft and like the album" mentality.

Hey there, just wondering what exactly was the story everyone keeps mentioning about "Amie?" Please tell...

read closer. entire shows are definitely NOT allowed there unless every single song has been officially released.

Thank you!!!!!!!!!

I think I remember most of the story.. it went along these lines.. correct my mistakes

He started out saying it was kind of a hard time for him..and he needed a place to stay so a friend of his, a girl offered her place. He went over and she let him sleep in her bed. When she left he got kind of excited because he thought that maybe he was going to get lucky (crowd laughs).. she came back and told him to try to relax and the most relaxing thing in the world was to lay down and look out the windows at the stars. He did, and started to drink a little wine.. eventually he got a buzz on. She had told him to focus on one star and just gaze at it.. kind of let it talk to you. Since he had dranken a little bit he had gotten a bit lazy and just said.. "ohh i pick you guys over there".. and when he said that a shooting star flew by. After that he got excited and "got a little cocky" with the stars as he put it. He said ok guys, now really impress me. He said at that point he didnt know if he was crazy, but something happened and he couldnt really remember what did... "And this is the song that came out of that night.."

Starts into aime

I did some research and got a *.flac converter and reader... i much rather listen to it in *.flac

Wish my ipod would let me put it on... oh well.

i'm dying to hear 9 crimes > rootless tree... thanks for recording! can't wait to hear it...

I can see where the reporters are coming from, they didn't really know what to expect...or too much thought they knew what they were expecting.

It was a phenomenal show for most of us. =D

In any case...I have photos!
They aren't that great I was sitting near the back of the orchestra, and I didn't wiggle my way backstage to get any pictures with the band because I had a train to catch...but....


http://flickr.com/photos/soupee/ <---Here ya go!

I gotta say, the song list was great, so I disasgree with that statement - but as far as the lights? It was part of the show for like, two minutes when they were blinding - and it was for the effect...I can't remember a time when Damien didn't do it.

Sheesh - lots of complainers/whiners about this show, good news is they'll stay away next time and I can get even closer seats!

I'm not sure I'd call the show "bad" as it was pretty long, but I'd say a chunk of it left me severely underwhelmed and failed to engage me. One of my companions said the same afterwards - the other one enjoyed the night.

I think I enjoyed the song choice per se because it was not a rehash and featured many unreleased or newish songs, but the sequence seemed poor. I'm not sure the show had any direction or built up to any sort of climax. It all felt random.

Like you, I didn't like the lights either - and that's putting it mildly.

AHHH I cant believe i missed lisa! i was the guy in the blue hat that got the marker with you after the show. Im kinda really pissed i didnt stay...damn trains

I agree whole-heartedly with you. This sounds like very typical album writers that is familiar with the music, but not the artist (at least from these reviews).

Amen brotha, and my two cents ... for now.
 

I was restless in my seat at the beginning of the show as he played three of top five tracks and two of them are not even "studio" tacks ... Sand and Face ... and The Professor, Lisa singing with such a great force and power, I was impressed and was pleasantly shocked.

Having seen him at Avalon when he was around here supporting "O'' I came to expect a bit of the artistic license and the type of show he can put out. That is just Damien live, if you didn't know what to expect -I'm sorry - but stop wining and do your research next time.

Some of these people need to cut Damien and the band some slack. This is not a play, nor Opera, they are allowed to do/play whatever, however, they want. You have the right to be disappointed too, but I personally feel your complaints are falling upon deaf ears, that includes the reviews from the newspapers too, as any hardened fan will admit that he puts on a show, not just performs the hits that the casual fan wants him to play.

My only complaint was that Damien duck out the back door and left early for New York and the show was mixed a bit too heavy, at least it was on the Orch. level, not sure how it was on the Mez. and Balc. levels. I did get to meet Viv and Lisa, got to talk with her for a moment, great people. Not your "rock star" types some people are trying to pigeon hole them as.

that's all, for now ...

oh and ...

My bad. Oh well. Sure it will get out there somehow whenever as most shows do. In all fairness as all the tracks that were performed that night are already available to download from previous shows, some are even on this site. So ... not sure is that counts or not, but oh well. I have not listened to the shows from CA from the torrents from that site yet but I see track listings for some songs that were not commercially released ... guess they don't really enforce that rule too much. :)

now, that's all, I think ... for now

again, ARCHIVE.ORG will not allow any songs that have not been OFFICIALLY released because that is what they have been instructed by damien's people. if you notice there are only 2 old radio shows on there, not actual full shows.

and oh yea. it wasn't some random noise after amie. it was amie > sex change > eskimo. it's been done before. see my italy tape from march 04.

I realize these things take time, but is there anyone out in the EF universe who may have a way to put a recording of Lisa singing "Blow the Wind Southerly" in Boston up on the web somewhere? I'd greatly appreciate it.

i believe there's a youTube video already... as for straight audio i don't believe it's up yet...

I know most of you will defend Damien Rice until you're blue in the face but I'm reading a lot of "yea, but..." statements here. The show in Boston had moments that gave you the chills and where you could hear a pin drop. It had funny moments like Damien said, "You can tell there are a lot of Irish people in Boston because you're all ****in late."

However, the experimental/noise/improvisation was terrible. He was getting away from his strongest aspects as a musician and doing something that Sonic Youth would be more apt to do. And for the new fan, there is NOTHING on any album that would lead them to expect a 15 minute version of Volcano complete with screaming and blinding light.

I saw Damien at The Paradise and the Paradise Lounge in 2003 [?] and when he's playing songs there are few better. When he strays from it, there are other bands that do that sort of thing a lot better. The reviewers had every right to blast Damien's gig at the Orpheum because the majority of the people got something other than what they expected. That's not to say some people didn't like it.

However, I loved the show, but he needs to stick to playing songs. When he played Coconut Skins and it lasted 3 minutes I was kind of shocked. I was expecting it to drag on for 8 minutes at that point.

Thank you so much for posting this story, quite amazing actually.

Currently listening to: "Then Go," El Rey Version...

Very well put. You know, whenever I read these reviews (which is very seldom in fact), I always get a mental picture of some 35-40 something washed up fat guy with greasy hair and a bag a cheetos trying to fit in with the crowd at a show. I mean, come on....are these guys really fans or just some low-life trying to make a buck?

"Um...excuse me, yeah, sorry for bothering you but could you please tell me what that last song was called? Oh, The Blower's Daughter...wait, the death metal version??? Eureka!"

F*ck off.

The thing is, if they constantly wrote nice reviews, no one would read them and they might be labeled as being "too nice." And in the media world, this label is a death-sentence. All they're concerned with is capturing your attention so that they can walk into their boss's office Monday morning with a 3 inch hard-on and show him exactly how much publicity his story received from the fans.

And yes, there might be some validity to the reviews and I'm not one to just defend someone blindly. I personally think the sound guys could definitely try to mix a little better, especially when regarding the resonant frequency of the theater (just to let you know, in case you were wondering why the bass was a lot louder in some parts of the songs, here's your answer!).

Peace.

Two Thumbs Down
 

Ok this is from a real Damien Rice fan not some newspaper critic.....
I have never seen Damien Rice live until Monday night but I have bootlegs/dvds and know what to expect from him live. I have had tickets to three different shows that I couldn't attend due to work but have been waiting for 2 years to see him. Monday night was hands down the most disappointing concert I have ever seen. The Orpheum is a very intimate venue and everytime I go see a show there I walk out wanting more. This was not the case on Monday. The concert started off really strong. The first few songs everyone was really into it. Then later in the show, he talked about where Aime came from and I thought it was a great story but then it hit. This stupid 20 minute jam sh*t waste of time. I was counting exit signs and looking at the people around me and everyone was like what the hell is this. At this moment I really could've left. After that the show was decent but that stupid jam took me out of it and also the dragging on of songs. The death metal of the blower's daughter was good. I mean the song was terrible but as musicians they looked like they were having a good time.Damien's screaming was so lame and pointless. I love Damien Rice's music but think his lyrics lack the strength of big name storytellers like Dylan and Springsteen. Also to hear the last line of every song 15 times is just a space filler and really a waste of time he could have fit in another song. 4 minute songs would be dragged into 8 minutes and 4 of those minutes would keep me begging for the song to stop. The weird thing is, Damien didnt look tired but he played like he was beat. He really only got into songs a handful of times during the show. Also for the musicians on the stage. The drummer is the worst drummer I have ever seen. He missed a ton of hits and was off but I notice that stuff because I am one. The other musicians were fantastic including the bass player. One thing I will say about Damien Rice is he sounded just as good, if not better, live than on his studio cd's. Also Lisa sounded amazing as well. Her solo for the encore was amazing. Overall I walked into this show with high expectations but found myself walking out with my head down and very disappointed. If anyone walked out of that show thinking it was good they must have never seen one of the bootlegs I have. Will I go see another Damien Rice show? Yes because the next one has to be better than this. I have Ray Lamontagne coming up on Monday at the Orpheum and expectations are high because of this show. The Orpheum is made for singer/songwriters like Damien Rice but on Monday, he should've played the fleetcenter. A big boring lack-luster place because that what this concert was like. Bash away but I am a true and always will be a Damien Rice fan. Everyone has an off night and I think this was his worst.

anyways... stickin to my guns - twas an amazing show...

for those who were there and did enjoy it and have been checking youtube for the latest here's another:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Icf5jdsjqXI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvve4sZZrPo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zus1D0OJWUg