Dove Ellis is a gentle singer-songwriter from Ireland. His vocals have a Thom Yorke feel whilst the material reminds me of Jeff Buckley's 'Grace'. Dove has a strong voice with an impressive range. His falsetto is delightful and quite moving. The Gillian Welch cover fits in well with his own material as he puts his own stamp on it. He plays two songs on the piano and the material is in the same kind of territory as Anohni & The Johnsons' 'I Am A Bird Now' although his voice is completely different. The final track is played on the acoustic guitar and this gives it more of a country or folk feel. Captivating.
The Golden Dregs open their set with just piano and Benjamin Woods' vocals for 'How It Starts'. The deep vocals are striking and sound more gothic than the records. He sounds more like Pete Steele than the usual reference points of Waits, Cave or Lanegan and it's almost comical. The rest of the band join them onstage for 'In The Headlights He' and something doesn't seem right. The vocals don't possess the world weary grit that they should and the drums sound a bit leaden too. 'The Company Of Strangers' doesn't fare much better. These are great songs but they don't seem to be landing and they don't have the same impact as the studio versions. Ben says that he has a bit of a cold so that possibly explains the vocals. 'Big Ideas' is better as the backing vocals help to elevate it. The americana of 'Imagining France' is good but the drumming still seems a bit stilted. 'American Airlines' is where they really start to channel Mark Lanegan or Tom Waits. A warm sounding 'Linoleum' is excellent. One song sees them going all Lloyd Cole & The Commotions. The funky bassline and basic drumming of 'Sundown Lake' is rather offputting. 'Weight Of It All' misses the horn stabs of the studio version.When it all gets stripped back to just a single instrument and vocals it is much more successful. They close with a more traditional country number but it still isn't gelling as it should. Considering their latest album 'Godspeed' is a current contender for my album of the year, I am pretty disappointed.
The Golden Dregs ***
Dove Ellis ****
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