Gig Review: Duke Special – Leeds Irish Centre, Leeds 17-05-07
Support: Beth Rowley, Fran Rodgers

Reviewer: Chris Wills

Duke Special, real name Peter Wilson, is the Belfast singer-songwriter who has garnered critical acclaim with his album Songs From the Deep Forest. I saw him at the Leeds Irish Centre near the end of his latest series of British dates.

Situated on the York Road just outside the city centre, the Leeds Irish Centre may look from the outside like an unassuming, if not unpromising, concert venue, but inside there’s a real sense of warmth and atmosphere that can be missing from some places. I suspect there aren’t many places where the doormen look like an ageing Elvis and a refugee from ZZ Top…

My friend and I enjoyed the two support acts whilst sat down near the stage (and I can tell you that being able to enjoy music whilst seated is very welcome for my poor old feet!). First up was Fran Rodgers, whose sheer simplicity was in itself refreshing. Her set was full of songs which, whilst mostly her own (she concluded with a medley of covers), had a soothing familiarity about them, whilst at the same time being utterly mesmerising in their directness. Think a female Nick Drake or Leonard Cohen (two artists she cites as major influences) with a voice of piercing clarity and simplicity, embellished only by her acoustic guitar. Her website, www.franrodgers.co.uk and her MySpace page, www.myspace.com/francesrodgers, are definitely worth a look and listen.

Following Fran on to the stage was Beth Rowley. This silky chanteuse offered up soulful, bluesy and sexy numbers, ably supported by her backing vocalists and a couple of musicians out of Duke Special’s band. Beth would return the favour by contributing guest vocals to several numbers in the headlining set. With her music style and her hair piled high atop her head, she was in a way reminiscent of a cleaned-up Amy Winehouse, but with just as much soul. She also has her own website, www.bethrowley.com, and her music can be heard at www.myspace.com/bethrowley.

And so to the Duke himself. With his dreadlocks, eyeliner and Salvation Army suit, he cut a singular figure. Some old, old gramophone music signalled his arrival on stage, and the previously sedentary audience took this crackly old tune as their signal to be upstanding. After a solo, piano-led rendition of Some Things Make Your Soul, Duke Special introduced his backing band, including drummer and long-time collaborator Chip Bailey (aka Temperance Society, and also in Sally Army get-up) and multi-instrumentalists Ben Castle and Paul Pilot (the latter a co-writer on several songs). The set was dominated by numbers from Songs From the Deep Forest, including the heartfelt Brixton Leaves, Ballad of a Broken Man (like some old spiritual you imagine had existed for many, many years) and concluding with Last Night I Nearly Died, one of the singles off the album. There was also a song called Catfish, a delightful duet with Beth, which we were told was from Huckleberry Finn: The Musical.

After Last Night, the band exited the stage, but the audience weren’t going to let them get off that easily, and shortly afterwards Duke Special was back for an encore. This began with a picture of Steven Seagal, took in the sweeping romantic ballad Freewheel, song-in-progress (and already sounding good) This Might Be Healing and some serious egg-whisk-on-cheese-grater and crowd-surfing action from Chip. It ended with the band descending amongst the crowd for an audience participation singalong, bringing to a close an evening brimming with good craic and great songs.

Whether Duke Special will achieve the major breakthrough he so thoroughly deserves; or whether he’ll remain, like Rufus Wainwright or Patrick Wolf, a purveyor of kaleidoscopic, bittersweet pop music whose critical acclaim never seems to lead to massive success beyond a devoted fanbase, remains to be seen. One thing that is for sure is that anyone who was at the Leeds Irish Centre that night was treated to some inventive, heartfelt and truly grown-up pop music.

For more on the man and his music, go to his website at www.dukespecial.com, or go to www.myspace.com/dukespecial

 

Upcoming Shows

24 May 2007 Galway Town Hall Galway
25 May 2007 Dublin Vicar Street Dublin
26 May 2007 Carlow Music Factory Carlow