David Ford, Leeds Brudenell Social Club

Monday October 8th 2007

When I think back to my favourite gigs of all time, it is not necessarily seeing my favourite band Blur for the first time at Leeds festival, nor watching the Arctic Monkeys in a dingy club before they got big. David Ford’s show in a small pub in Huddersfield at the back end of 2005 had that special something that you just can’t put your finger on.

Maybe it was to do with the realisation that I was one of a handful of people who were blessed enough to have watched him perform that night, and to fall in love, on the first live listen, with his debut album I Sincerely Apologise For All The Trouble I Caused.

Brudenell Social Club is a fantastic venue hidden away in a student area of Leeds. One half of the building is the working mens’ club whilst the other is reserved for the best national and international ‘up-and-comers’. Its relaxed atmosphere, plus plenty of cushioned seating, is perfect for a Monday night with the ex-Easyworld frontman.

Ford is his usual affable self; he looks a bit like an older and wiser Justin Timberlake if you squint. He has the pork pie hat, at least. His current single ‘Decimate’ – like most Ford songs – has a skyscraper chorus, with Ford’s voice mingling tantalisingly with the sole violin. Political fury has always been a focal point for him, much like Tom Waits. ‘Requiem’, another track from his second longplayer Songs For The Road, is anything but funereal, with Ford descending from likeable troubadour into a crazy, troubled madman. Trombone is added into the mix for this tune – a curious choice, but the warm overtones give at a softened feel.

‘State Of The Union’ is what will have drawn many to the show tonight, as Ford’s one man performance builds into epic proportions. He loops his guitar strums, piano noodling, percussion and layer upon layer of political ramblings until we are facing what can only be described as cacophony. Utterly amazing. It must be said that Ford is not totally preoccupied with politics however, as a sprinkling of love songs are scattered through the set. ‘Song For The Road’ has been brewing awhile, as it got one its formative outings when Ford played in Huddersfield. A beautiful paean to his wife, the line “Whilst poets engineer definitions of love/You know all I can think of is you” is enough to set anyone off dreaming of hearts and flowers.

Last time I saw Ford, he dedicated his very own ‘Hey Jude’, the more risqué ‘Cheer Up You Miserable F*ck’, to fans of Morrissey, almost in a degrading way. In a cheeky about turn, he finished off the night with a gentle cover of The Smiths’ ‘There Is A Light That Never Goes Out’.

His down-to-earth attitude to his music and the modest production might mean that Ford never gets the recognition as a solo artist that he so readily deserves. But if Damien Rice is big, then David Ford should be massive.