Dave O’ Grady at The Lomax. Photograph by Ian D. Hall
Originally published by L.S. Media. July 16th 2012.
L.S. Media Rating ****
Would you fly back home from foreign fields and the same night perform to a room full of people? More than likely not; even if doing your own job, no matter how important, normally takes a back seat after an arduous journey in the air. Not for Dave O’Grady.
Dave O’Grady has become a firm favourite on the Liverpool club scene, very talented and able to pull of some incredible notes on his favoured guitar and on a night where he was sharing the bill with some very good musicians at the Lomax, Dave O’ Grady pulled something very special out of the locker and performed as if he was on a second or even third wind.
Even with some of the crowd having enjoyed themselves immensely during the opening act and were still obviously enthralled enough to talk over his songs, Mr O’ Grady simply went into Irish charm mode, smiled, made a wonderful sarcastic comment and got a laugh out of the entire audience. There are not many musicians that have that type of raw power to be able to have the confidence to tell an audience to shut up.
As with the other musicians at the start of the evening, Dave had limited time to impress the crowd but the five songs he played were of high quality and greeted with much applause. The song Old Church Road was possibly the best version of the song he had sang in a while, a song that already has much meaning hidden in its tight poetry like lyrics, was given an almost air of supremacy. Possibly mindful of what was expected of him; that no matter what your journey getting to the venue, the customers always expect the best you can do, it was left in no doubt that the trip didn’t faze him one iota.
If Dave O’ Grady can perform as well as this when still getting over the effects of flying, imagine what he does when he rested and ready to blow an audience away. Having seen that happen, it’s nothing short of excellent and he is still a tremendous act to catch live.
Ian D. Hall