I got the chance to see the magnificent David Ford open a sold out show for Rachael Yamagata and Sara Bareilles late last month at the TLA in Philadelphia. When I arrived, the TLA was surprisingly packed. Even for sold out shows at the TLA, the opener only sees about a quarter of the place full, but the balcony was full up and the floor was packed for from the stage halfway back to the balcony’s pillars. The crowd went wild as Ford took the stage and launched into the current single “Go To Hell” from his latest album Songs For The Road.
The passion and intensity with which Ford performs in entrancing and inspiring. Following “Go To Hell,” Ford introduced two “fellow countrymen,” one of whom would play the “electric suitcase” and other of whom played guitar. Knowing from a previous interview with PopWreckoning that Ford finds the idea of a band silly, I was shocked to see the other two Brits take the stage, but Ford explained, “We decided to form the band at 3PM. [pause] How are we doing?” His question was met with a roar of cheering from the audience, which he had in the palm of his hand. Following the crowd’s applause, Ford looks at his new bandmates and announces, “We’ve made it!”
The three on stage broke into “Train” and afterwards, Ford informed the audience that he was told to get the crowd riled up by shouting, but it isn’t in his British nature to be so loud and outgoing. He’d brought a small, silver service bell along and let the crowd know that when he rang the bell, it was their cue to go crazy. Testing this approach, he rang the bell and the crowd exploded with noise as Ford began “Decimate.” He followed with an impromptu cover of The Four Seasons‘ “December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night).” The audience loved it and sang along with every word.
Running short on time, Ford closed with “my version of the State of the Union address” (“State of the Union from 2006′s I Sincerely Apologise For All The Trouble I’ve Caused) in which he recorded himself and put it on loop so that he didn’t need to use his backing band. It was truly amazing to watch as Ford moved from instrument to instrument, playing a short progression on it and leaving it to loop over and over and he moved to new instruments creating an overwhelming clusterfuck of sound the simply shredded.
The crowd loved David Ford, and it’s easy to understand why. His passion for music and the intensity in his live performance is astounding. Although his stint with Yamagata and Bareilles has ended, you can catch Ford on another US tour with Augustana starting this coming Tuesday, May 6th (dates below). Definitely catch Ford live. It will blow you away.
more @ flickrTour Dates:
May 06 – Wonder/Portland, Or.
May 07 – Showbox/Seattle, Wa.
May 08 – Big Easy/Boise, Id.
May 09 – Aavalon/Salt Lake City, Ut.
May 10 – Gothic/Denver, Colorado
May 12 – Fine Line/Minneapolis, Mn.
May 13 – Metro/Chicago, Il.
May 14 – St. Andrew’s Hall/Detroit, Mi.
May 15 – House of Blues/Cleveland, Oh.
May 16 – The Mod Club Theatre/Toronta, On.
May 17 – Les Saints/Montreal, Qc.
May 19 – Paradise Rock Club/Boston, Ma.
May 20 – Maxwell’s/Hoboken, Nj.
May 21 – Bowery Ballroom/New York, Ny.
May 22 – 9:30 Club/Washington, Dc.
May 23 – The TLA/Philadelphia, Pa.
David Ford: website | myspace | interview
[where: 334 South Street, Philadelphia, PA 19147]
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