Artists: Myles Kennedy, Devin Townsend
Venue: Nottingham, Rock City
Date: 29 November 2024
"I also really enjoyed Kennedy’s set, and will probably do something I don’t do very often now, namely going out to buy the guy’s albums. A really good night."
Having seen Myles Kennedy with Alter Bridge and Slash, I have to be honest and say I have never seen him with his own band, and it would be fair to say that I maybe wouldn’t have done so here if the “support act” had been anyone else, simply because you have limited space in a lifetime, and there are so many bands that I just can’t fit them all in. But Dev was here, which meant it was a must go (I spoke to numerous people tonight, who said the same thing; that they were here mainly to see Devin Townsend). And at 7.20pm, on he strolled for forty-five minutes of acoustic music, humour and mayhem. The cheer, when he did, was immense and, in the pit, many of we photographers had looked for the set list, one remarking to me that there wasn’t one, to which I replied, knowing Devin as I do, “Nah, he’ll make it up as he goes along probably”, then when he did appear, he threw a small scrap of paper with a few song titles scribbled on it in biro, looking as though it had been done thirty seconds before he walked on, next to his microphone stand, then threw his glasses on top of it so he probably wouldn’t be able to read it anyway.
Why complicate matters?
And one thing I love about Devin Townsend, apart from his eclectic approach to his music, is his honesty. The first thing he said when he came on was that he needed a pee, as anxiety takes over before he comes on (really), but when he goes, he can’t. He then starts a shouting match with someone in the audience about wanting a pee and tried to destroy his voice by getting him to shout louder and higher, before saying “That’s gonna be my evening, have a good night”. Then, “For those of you who know, you probably will never think of me again after this show, and if you do it won’t be positive, so go fuck yourselves”, which got a loud laugh, before he started singing ‘Let It Roll’, from his ‘Band’ days, during which he also stated, “It’s all acoustic for the next forty minutes, so go to the bar”, and this was all in the first two minutes. Even if you don’t like his music, you will be entertained. After this he went further back, to his Strapping Young Lad era, stating “I am doing an acoustic Heavy Metal song because I have no shame” before doing ‘Love?’, and then, towards the end exclaimed “I’m getting bored with this”, and proceeded to play it twice as fast. He then went a bit “Jason Manford”, which he does around Christmas time, by performing ‘Bring Him Home’ from the musical ‘Les Miserables’ (Not something you would expect to hear from a Metal singer, but that’s Mr Townsend for you, and, which one is Les?). Going out of tune on one of the high bits he shouted “Woah” and then tried twice more before he actually hit it.
Honesty!
He told jokes between the songs and, during ‘Ih-Ah!’, someone from the audience was quite loud; possibly “singing”, the song, so he asked the guy if he wanted to sing and then handed him the microphone. However, the guy couldn’t sing, and he took the mic back a short time later. Having done ‘Lightworker’, he looked at his watch, exclaiming that he should be off now, but then did a very brief and fast intro to ‘Life’, before thanking the crowd and departing the stage to loud applause. So, in forty minutes, Devin Townsend had given us a variety show. I am sure some people here tonight who were not familiar with him, and what he does, would have gone away wondering what they had just witnessed, and thinking they would probably want to witness it again, and so they should, but need to be reminded that this was an acoustic show of just forty minutes. A full band show is a completely different beast.
Setlist (contains spoilers)
As I said, I had never seen Myles Kennedy on his own, nor had I heard any of his albums, so this would be completely unique to me, and I was surprised when only three people came on stage; bass and bass pedal player Tim Tournier, drummer Zia Uddin, and Kennedy himself on guitar and vocals. I knew he played guitar, and I have to say that for a vocalist, he plays very good guitar. Not being familiar with the songs always puts you at a disadvantage, but I realised quite quickly that I wouldn’t find any difficulty listening to this.
Armed with his customary array of PRS guitars, the set contained material covering the time from his first album right up to his latest, starting off with ‘The Art Of Letting Go’ and ‘Nothing More To Gain’, with no introduction or audience communication. The drums and bass were solid throughout, but there was something I have noticed at quite a few shows recently. Maybe my ears have dropped a bit, but the sound was quite bass dominant, to the detriment of losing Kennedy’s voice in it a few times. By the fourth song, ‘A Thousand Words’, the jacket had come off, so we knew he meant business. Before doing ‘Tell It Like It Is’, Kennedy paid homage to Townsend, stating they were honoured to share a stage with him, and that he was “So inspiring, he’s brilliant, now back to the mediocrity”. He then gave a good demonstration of bottle-neck guitar on this, and it is one of those songs that you can’t help but move to. The first song from the latest album ‘Behind The Veil’ was next, after which he went right back in time to do ‘Haunted By Design’ on acoustic guitar, totally on his own, apart from a generated bass drum beat, then followed this with another song from the first album, which started out as a ballad, and, as Townsend had everyone singing with ‘Ih-Ah!’, so Kennedy did with ‘Love Can Only Heal’, with the crowd “La la la”-ing along, until the ominously sounding bass drum came in and the volume went up and the song turned anthemic. He had everyone clapping along with ‘Wake Me When It’s Over’, ‘Year Of The Tiger’, which he explained started the whole solo thing going, ‘Get Along’ and ‘In Stride’, which reminded me a little of Jeff Beck’s ‘Hi Ho Silver Lining’ at the beginning, and another song where ho demonstrated his bottle-necking. He also managed to get one side of the room competing with the other shouting “Woah” towards the end. The encore, which you wouldn’t have known it was if you weren’t listening just prior, as they didn’t leave the stage, was ‘Say What You Will’.
And that was it. As mentioned, I would probably not have attended this had Devin Townsend not been on the bill, but I’m glad I did as, not only was it great to see Townsend again, I also really enjoyed Kennedy’s set, and will probably do something I don’t do very often now, namely going out to buy the guy’s albums. A really good night.
Setlist (contains spoilers)
Review: Andy B & Lou C Photos: Andy B
Gallery: All photos © Andy B (used with kind permission)
Location:
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