THE DIVINE COMEDY | LIVE REVIEW
Tramshed, Cardiff, Sat 8 Oct
It’s not until well over an hour into a hot, sticky, sold-out show at Cardiff’s Tramshed that the audience erupts into life, at Neil Hannon’s request. The physically slight, but charismatically gigantic, Northern Irishman beckons for the crowd to abandon their seats and join him at the front of the room for a knees-up, as the band break into At The Indie Disco, one several tunes from 2010’s Bang Goes The Knighthood which litter tonight’s set. The rush to the front feels like a release, of sorts; it’s hard to simply sit and nod along to songs as well written and entertainingly performed as those of The Divine Comedy, and the exuberant flood of folk to the stage is one of a number of highlights in a night which will not be forgotten in a hurry by anyone present.
There is a sense of knowing spectacle to the whole performance, always with Hannon at its heart, whether decked out in bowler hat and brolly to deliver The Complete Banker, or in full Peninsula War re-enactment garb, all the better to belt out Napoleon Complex in. He is a lively and never less than amusing frontman, blessed with a powerful vocal range and superlative songwriting talent. Only the second show of the tour, there are a few ‘seat of the pants’ moments (not least when Hannon forgets the lyrics to his most recent single, the hilarious How Can You Leave Me On My Own?), but any roughness around the edges of the performance is shrugged off with a grin, all part of the show.
With 11 studio albums from which to pick a set, a new album to promote, and a stated desire to put his whole band to use in playing songs from the aforementioned Bang Goes The Knighthood, which he’d previously toured solo, it’s a wonder that Hannon finds the time to treat us to so many hits, but, nevertheless, everything from the whimsy of National Express to the wistful Absent Friends gets an airing over a set, which at one point leaves Hannon begging for a break, declaring himself “fecking knackered”.
Two encores are demanded and the band close on a high, bowing out with the beautiful Songs Of Love – a number which will be forever associated with Father Ted, but deserves to be appreciated in its own right as one of Hannon’s most beautiful compositions. A superbly memorable evening.
words HUGH RUSSELL