Wednesday 4 May 2011

John Grant at the button factory

Hi,  my name is library diva and i am a phone-a-holic.  Without my phone, i am like a lost soul wandering around unsure of the time of day, what i am supposed to be doing at this precise moment, the phone number of someone who could enlighten me on what im supposed to be doing and the means of contacting said person. You see, for me a phone is much more than a receptical for  phone calls and text messages, it is my contact to the outside world.   It acts as clock, alarm clock, calendar, organiser, phone directory.  It is my life line.  How did people survive before the age of the mobile phone?  I don't know and frankly I don't want to know.

On Monday evening I left my phone at a friends house.  Cue one restless night spent tossing and turning, afraid to fall into asleep in case i forgot to wake up for work (it should, at this point, be noted that i start work at 1pm and therefore am highly unlikely to sleep through work). During the night i hatched a plan to get
 up really early, leg it over to my friends house before she went to work, sidestepping any impending disasters.  Unfortunately I was too late.
Not dispirited, i formulated Plan B.  I would make it into work alive and on time, make contact with my friend and arrange to pick up my phone.  Simple, right? Wrong.  Unable to get my friends number, i decided that i would run over to her house after work and hope for the best.  Seven nightmare hours at work later, i got my phone back.  Then  i read the messages.

A pal of mine had scored tickets to a John Grant gig.  She was waiting for me in the button factory for the past half an hour.  Where the hell was i?  Dammit!!! I ran for the luas, ringing her to apologise profusely.  Twenty minutes later, i was at the gig.  Just in time to see the headline act.

After the traumatic day, I was just glad to have gotten to the venue in one piece, to see my pal and to be holding a large gin and tonic.  Then he sang.  I had never heard of John Grant before the gig, but he is class.  His deep voice is hypnotic.   As he was singing 'Where dreams go to die' i could feel my muscles unwinding. His piano playing skills are phenomenal as are his song writing skills.  Check out the song 'Sigourney Weaver'- hillarious yet beautiful.  The button factory was a great choice of venue, as it is small enough to allow interaction between the artist and the audience.  Audience members were able to request songs, and Grant's easy conversational style of performing is well suited to smaller venues.  At the end of the show he gave his argument against the use of encores.  He 'just wants to come out, sing all the songs he knows and go home'.  A brilliant gig, i didn't know who he was before the gig, and im delighted to have heard such a talented muscician.  A happy ending to a crappy day.

John Grant hails from Michigan.  He used to sing with the group the Czars.  His 2010 album 'Queen of Denmark' was voted the album of the year by Mojo magazine.  The album was also listed in the top 10 albums of 2010 by the guardian.  Songs to listen out for are 'Mars', 'Sigourney Weaver', 'Queen of Denmark' and 'Where dreams go to die'.  Check him out- he's awesome!

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