POP MUSIC
Monday, November 10, 2003; Page C05
British Sea Power at Black Cat Even for those who didn't know that British Sea Power was one of the U.K.'s most idiosyncratic contributions to American culture since Monty Python, it was clear something strange was coming on Friday night when the band's members appeared in military camouflage on a stage liberally decorated with . . . ferns.
Skeptics might wonder whether rockers in the guise of erudite Doughboys are just working a cheap gimmick, and whether they'd have the chops to deliver a solid live show. But BSP's long set at the Black Cat was an unforgettably fearless combination of showmanship and musical passion.
BSP's lead singer, who goes by the name of Yan, looked and sounded like a paranoid young David Bowie overdosing on caffeine. Behind his scampering, sultry vocals was a caterwauling, bass-heavy rhythm section with a masterful tightness that evoked the Pixies. Steering the way melodically was the guitarist, known only as Noble, who wore baggy white winter camouflage and an eerily blank expression as his guitar alternated between pretty, tuneful picking and the shriek of feverish, off-kilter chords.
Together BSP conjured up a hilarious onstage anarchy. Yan (gently) flogged fans in the front row with a huge fern branch, and occasionally swung from low ceiling pipes. At one point keyboardist Eamon, clad in a Russian fur hat, pranced through the audience pounding a marching drum.
Fortunately, these antics didn't distract from the music. BSP raced through crackling versions of songs drawn mostly from their lone LP -- from the screechy ("Apologies to Insect Life") to the lilting ("Carrion") to the anthemic ("Remember Me."). British Sea Power may someday decline, but on this night it achieved something close to supremacy.
-- Michael Crowley
Badly Drawn Boy at 9:30 Take away the between-songs banter, and Badly Drawn Boy -- aka scruffy Brit-popper Damon Gough -- could have wrapped up Friday's 9:30 club gig in 90 minutes flat. But Gough buttoning his lip is like Don Rickles going easy on the zingers. It just ain't gonna happen.
So during a very loose and ultimately likable show, the garrulous 34-year-old, alone onstage for most of the nearly three hours, riffed on such topics as the opening act's bosom, his hatred of Coldplay, his ever-present knit cap and his children.
"I'd appreciate it if you didn't applaud everything I say," BDB admonished the spirited, capacity crowd. "Just the choice cuts."
He eventually got around to singing a few tunes. BDB's prattling may get nasty, but his mixed-genre songs (think Bob Dylan doing the theme for a Japanese game show) prove that he's a softy at heart. Equally adept at piano and guitar -- not to mention chain-smoking -- Gough opened his set with a reggae version of the Jackson 5's "I Want You Back." Then, with a gruff voice straining to be sweet, he casually worked through most of his latest album, "Have You Fed the Fish?," which deals with the perils of being a rock star and a family man.
"You Were Right," a fantasy about turning down Madonna's advances but kindly "getting her tickets for what she needs," was a jaunty rag that wouldn't have been out of place on the back end of "Abbey Road." And the night's highlight, the acoustically gorgeous "What Is It Now?," detailed the mixed emotions surrounding the "surprise" birth of his son Oscar.
After getting a little choked up at song's end, BDB took a long drag on his cigarette and, reverting to form, told the hushed crowd, "Of course, we might have given him away if we didn't like the looks of him."
-- Sean Daly
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20568-2003Nov10.html
