Duke Special- Zodiac, Feb 22nd

(copied from my last.fm journal, as ever...)

***ADDITIONAL NOTE*** I would have had a number of excellent photos from this gig, if it had not taken me an hour to work out that to take photos of moving people, you put the camera in 'moving people' mode, (I thought night-time mode would be more appropriate, seeing as it was very dark, but no...) and if the camera had not run out if batteries two minutes after this realisation. Consequently, I have two. But they are reasonably good, and give a pretty good impression of how close to the front we were.


Duke Special is surprisingly short. What with the raggedy dreadlocks, and the eyeliner that even the most tragic emo-girl might find excessive, I'd imagined him as being tall and imposing in order to complete his completely misleading, scary appearance. But no, he's a midget, and is all the more adorable for that. I wouldn't have thought that I'd ever describe someone with his choice of hair and make-up as cute, but he's an exception. But that's besides the point- much more importantly, he is FANTASTIC live.

The support, Stephanie Dosen, was also lovely to hear as well as entertaining, even though her wackiness did seem a little forced. (But then, maybe she really is naturally that strange, I'm not one to judge...) I'd never have suspected that such an insane potty mouth lurked behind her music- all gently rippling guitar, soft and sweet vocals, with a delicate string accompaniment. Still, her songs were more than good enough to make up for the slight grating that her in-between song ramblings inspired. And she was pretty funny as well- dead orphan jokes always raise a smile, right?

The Duke himself set the mood for a magical evening when the lights dimmed, the crowd hushed and 'The Teddy Bear's Picnic' floated through the speakers. He was spell-binding the whole evening through, from the opening song (don't ask me what that was, I can't remember) right through to the supposed finale, Salvation Tambourine. His band mates were fantastic as well- clarinet is incredibly underused in modern pop music I reckon. Unfortunately, our position in the room meant we could only see percussionist Chip Bailey with craned necks, but at intervals we could still see him wield his whisk with pride, and bash his drums with all the precision and grace of a crazed clockwork robot. I would have loved to have seen the incredible stumpf fiddle action- reserved for the very end of the show- more clearly, and his assault on a cheese grater (Chip Bailey-approved grater and whisk available to purchase, only £4!) more clearly, but I don't know if it would have been worth giving up our excellent view of the Duke himself, at just the right angle to see his hands skitter and pound across the piano.

I was surprised by just how much better Duke Special's music sounded live than on record. I like Songs from the Deep Forest and all, but had always thought it was a little too glossy, much preferring live performances gleaned from YouTube; seeing for myself that gloss stripped away, the songs played organically, lifted them from being just pretty orchestral pop songs to something completely unique. He managed to make the covers he performed sound completely his own- the only one i knew was Baby Britain (Elliott Smith), but if I hadn't known it, I would have thought it was his own song. The Duke was a proper showman as well, and really seemed to be loving it on stage- an enthusiasm and appreciation which shined back from the audience. And he said 'thank you' between each song, which always makes me happy- I like politeness.

The encore saw Stephanie Dosen back on stage and singing a hymn as a duet with the Duke, which was absolutely gorgeous, followed by I Let You Down (like a tonne weight). Then, finally, on their way from the stage to out the door, the Duke and his band set up in the middle of the audience for an acoustic sing-along of John Lennon Love. (This was the only point when his height was a problem, as I couldn't see him through the mass of taller people stood in a circle around him- he's not the only midget.) Then, after a tip-off from a Duke Specialist at the merchandise table, we hung around afterwards to get our posters signed by the man himself, our gratitude towards him completely reciprocated. He's just such a lovely man, whose music completely matches said loveliness.

I'm going to allow myself a really cheesy conclusion, because I think he deserves it. 'Angels make their music, and give my spirit wings...' Duke Special, you are one of those angels- thank you.