Very accomplished set from the superb John Grant at the Boiler Shop on Thursday night. A towering figure on stage, he proved capable of blending a mad mixture of styles from krautrock to honky tonk piano with ease.
The setlist featured an epic 19 tracks over two hours stretching across Grant’s solo career. There was very much an early 80s vibe to a number of tracks, which in part were reminiscent of bands including Yazoo and the Associates from the use of synths. Indeed at points, Grant’s vocal was reminiscent of the late Billy Mackenzie, with an impressive range and tone. This was notable on the torch songs too on piano.
Talking Heads, and David Byrne especially, are clearly another key influence on Grant’s work. The quirky nature of his delivery on tracks like Black Belt and He’s Got His Mother’s Hips, reflected that art rock vibe. Daft Punk were also clearly in the mix which worked well to a point, though there was a little overuse of the vocoder at times which seemed unnecessary given Grant’s brilliant authentic natural voice.
While his lively, funked up tracks with the band really got the crowd moving, Grant was particularly impressive on the stripped down tracks on the piano. This was where he was at his most self-deprecating lyrically too. One of the best tracks here was taken from his recent collaboration on the ballet version of Christopher Isherwood’s 1960s novel A Single Man; previously a film starring Colin Firth.
Amongst the encore, Grant performed fan favourite GMF which got them singing along with great gusto. Again brilliant, self-deprecating lyrics that demonstrate why he has such an impressive cult following.
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