A Study In Contrast: Damien Rice goes from a whisper to a scream in his long-awaited return to Philly

Damien Rice | Photo by Joe Del Tufo | deltufophotography.com

It’s been 7 years and 10 months and two weeks since Damien Rice last played Philadelphia. It’s taken him that long to release only his third album, My Favorite Faded Fantasy. The gorgeous Academy of Music was the perfect venue to host his return, reasonably large but still somehow intimate.

Rice is a study in contrast and dynamic range – emotional, audial and visual. He goes from a whisper to a scream, pure black to blinding sunlight and intimacy to fury in a click. Another thing about Rice is that no two concerts are ever the same. Each night brings a different set list, a different take on most of the songs. Where a track might be acoustic and off-mic one night, it might be a thunderous fuzz of ranting and feedback the next. A well-timed request can send everything in an entirely unexpected direction.

And last night was no exception.

There were almost too many highlights to list. And words fail to approach the overwhelm of senses his show brings forth. Playing unaccompanied on the expansive Academy stage, he opened with an un-miced version of “My Favorite Faded Fantasy.” He played a wildly different version of “9 Crimes,” a longer version with thrashing guitar and an inexplicable Tourette’s-fueled climax. He responded to an obscure request for “Wooden Horse” (an unreleased track he had not played in 20 years), that found him peering and smiling into the ceiling lights as his long term memory summoned the words forth.

Rice orchestrated a three-part overlapping audience participation during “Volcano” that made the room shimmer. There was the haunting and borderline traditional rendition of “Trusty & True” played solely on harmonium. The obligatory emotional wrenching of “I Remember,” which is always a highlight. But perhaps it was the last encore, a sparse and intimate version of “Cold Water” that left Rice singing as if he had no clue anyone was listening, sitting on the stage eyes-wide and face down inches from his guitar, the last words a barely audible “goodnight.”

Almost 8 years. And I’d gladly wait another 8 to experience something so pure.

Setlist
My Favorite Faded Fantasy
Delicate
It Takes A Lot To Know A Man
9 Crimes
Cannonball
Colour Me In
Wooden Horse
Volcano
Change You
Elephant
Trusty & True
I Remember
The Blower’s Daughter
Long Way
Cold water