Belfast-born songwriter Duke Special is currently touring the UK and performed at the RNCM this evening with some guest musicians. I first heard Duke Special in Sandinos Bar in Derry city when I was a music student there some ten years ago. I was completely unfamiliar with his music but I remember how captivating a voice he had and how skilled he was as a storyteller/songwriter.
I remembered well – from his opening song his voice really grabbed me. He sings with the depth and clarity of Lou Reed with the expression of lightness of Tim Minchin, but it isn’t right to compare him with others – he has a very beautiful and skilled, unique voice. He was joined on stage for most of the night with drummer Chip Bailey who provided a fantastic energy.
This concert was a retrospective of past works – and he certainly has an impressive array of albums and works that are extremely well crafted. He told the audience that he hadn’t been performing in public much recently, so it was a real pleasure for him to perform tonight. It was very clear that he – and the audience – enjoyed song after song. The sound in the RNCM was fantastic – Duke Special sat at a keyboard for most of the songs, paired only with drummer Chip Bailey who provided a fantastic energy. The sound was big and impacting. Bailey’s kit had an array of accessories which added a variety of colours to the music. He describes himself as an instinctive and innovative drummer and I think that is very true. He provided a fantastic accompaniment to the music we heard beyond simply providing rhythm. At times he was standing up in front of the kit, hitting the cymbals with great force other times he was playing the tiniest of cymbals with subtle rhythms.
We were treated to 21 songs in total, and included the wonderful 'Ballad Of A Broken Man', 'Last Night I Nearly Died', 'In Memoriam', 'I Let You Down', 'Emily Dickinson' and of course 'Freewheel'. While Duke Special has his own unique style, there is a great deal of variety in his songs and they really merit being seen live. Some songs were humorous, others quite teary and some told stories.
Special was joined by some guests – Vintage 78 DJs mixed old songs on vintage 1930's record players as the audience come in and during the break. This was very Duke Special – in that very first concert I had heard him in, he had recorded a backing track on to vinyl and played it on a wind up record player then sang over it. Other musicians were Canter Semper – a local vocal duo who added vocal backing to some of his songs and sang a song on their own. Salford based Vinny Peculiar also sang a couple of songs and Special played keys for him and added backing vocals. This addition of local musicians was a nice touch – all the artists had similar musical roots and folkish elements that complimented Duke Special’s own style.
This was a delightful concert in the perfect venue for it – the music of Duke Special deserves to be heard in the best sound environment and the RNCM, with a fantastic sound guy, really allowed the audience to hear him at his best.
Reviewer - Aaron Loughrey
on - 22/11/19
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