So we went to a Divine Comedy gig on Friday. In a church. It was sold out and there can't have been more than 500 or so people there, comfortabley spaced in the pews on the ground floor and up on the balcony. We were up on the balcony, at the front. It was a shame that we weren't downstairs as Mr. Hannon invited people to "approach! yes, yes approach!" and a good number filled the aisle and sat on the floor in front of the first row of pews.
It was really rather good, despite the fact that I think poor Neil really would like his fans/audience to be a bit less "middle-class and middle-aged in the brain" (and, quite frankly, really rather nerdy). Everyone was so polite and, er, well-behaved and not awfully vigorous; even in "Tonight We Fly" there was only a little bit of bouncing at the beginning from a few people. However, Neil was fabulous and shone through the quite appalling acoustic (I'm sure it's fine for non-amplified instruments and voice, but for the amplified... the sound becomes smeared and the lyrics indistinct). The new songs were actually quite a bit more bouncy than the last album, which was nice, but I'm not sure I can remember any particular songs nor could I sing any choruses shortly afterwards.
I don't know whether it was the fact that we were really quite close to the "stage" (even up on the balcony), or if the crowd was better, or the fact that you didn't have to stay in your seat, or my mood, or the songs that were sung... but it was an awful lot better than the last DC gig we went to. I'm raring for another one now. Neil Hannon is just so good live.
