Badly Drawn Boy plays sweetly sung tunes

MICHAEL MANTEL/Daily Bruin Friday at Amoeba Records in
Hollywood, Badly Drawn Boy played an in-store show
to plug his new album, the soundtrack to "About A Boy."

By Anthony Bromberg
DAILY BRUIN SENIOR STAFF
[email protected]

The aisles of Sunset Boulevard’s Amoeba Records were
filled Friday night not with eager shoppers, but with patrons
excited about seeing a boy. A Badly Drawn Boy to be exact.

Great Britain’s most recent hip singer-songwriter export,
Badly Drawn Boy (aka Damon Gough), put on a winsome show that
filled the too cool record store with warm melodies and a little
bit of that biting British humor.

Amoeba Records was an odd venue to see an artist who plays such
intimate music. Each aisle filled quickly with excited fans who
ended up leaning their elbows on everything from used rock CDs to
Argentinian classics, depending on the aisle in which they got
stuck. Others managed to fit themselves under the listening
stations on the second floor to get a clear bird’s eye view
of Badly Drawn Boy. In true rock show staff fashion, the Amoeba
employees so overzealously kept the walkways clear that anytime
anyone even stepped out to walk through them an Amoeba staff member
was there to tell them to move along.

On a slightly elevated stage at the back of the store, Badly
Drawn Boy set up shop in front of posters advertising “About
A Boy,” and his accompanying soundtrack. Wearing his
trademark beanie, a small jacket, jeans, and a T-shirt marked by
its glittery sparkly luster, BDB epitomized the sensitive yet hip
British rocker. Starting the show in a nearly punctual fashion
““ a little after 7 p.m. ““ Badly Drawn Boy came out with
a tone of relaxed half-joking arrogance.

Well known for the success of his Mercury award-winning debut
album “The Hour of Bewilderbeast,” Badly Drawn Boy is
busy this year having scored and provided original songs for
“About a Boy.” He is also preparing to release his
second full-length album in the fall. For the Amoeba show, BDB
pulled generously to represent his short career thus far.

He played such audience favorites as “Bewilderbeast”
opener “The Shining.” His voice, which was featured
more prominently in this mostly acoustic set compared with his
heavily produced studio work, sounded strong, but he chose not to
sustain notes on songs like “The Shining.” The audience
was most enthusiastic about the familiar tracks off of
“Bewilderbeast,” but some of the most successful
moments of the night came during “About A Boy” tracks.
BDB played most of the actual songs from the soundtrack, including
“Silent Sigh,” “Something to Talk About,”
and “A Minor Incident.” There were also the obligatory
plugs for songs from the new album, including a nice rendition of
the probable first single “All Possibilities.”

The music was peppered by the boy’s off-center sense of
humor and the banter between and during songs. Accompanying BDB
onstage was a guitarist to which the witty singer gave instructions
mid-song and called him something that sounded like
“Dunby.” Also to be chalked up to the Brit’s
sense of humor was a lambasting of Aaron’s Record Store,
which BDB dissed for not having enough of his albums and for hiring
unknowledgeable clerks, while he praised Amoeba in the process.

Playing keyboard, rhythm guitar and singing, BDB was a fun and
playful onstage persona.

He closed the show with an extended lounge version of the
“About A Boy” track “File Me Away.” He used
the song as an improvisational vehicle to interact with the
audience and talk about how great he was with the ladies. Laying a
programmed keyboard track over the song freed BDB to move around
the stage, passing out flowers to folks up front, asking each
person their name and declaring his appreciation for them only
until he moved on to the next fan.

After a night at Amoeba Records, it is easy to see that even
though he may be Badly Drawn Boy, that doesn’t mean that his
music is badly played or his lyrics badly sung.