Little Duffy Cloud*

I went to see Duffy on Saturday with the Niece. I have been struggling ever since to write a post about it. I have finally figured out that it is 2 posts. One about the concert, the other will be about the venue experience.

The concert was at Foxwoods, which is a resort casino in Connecticut. Like I said, this is a whole other post.

The concert itself was very good and Duffy is a trooper.

The show started at 9:00 on the dot which was something of a shock. I don't think I have ever been to a concert in my life that has started anywhere near the time stamped on the ticket.

Duffy started the show with just herself and the lead guitarist doing "Syrup and Honey". It would have been a little more effective, except the lighting engineer was asleep at the switch and there was no spotlight on Duffy, so she pretty much sang the song in the dark. I give her credit, because she did a beautiful job on the song in spite of this. I would have given up half way through and started screaming where the fuck is the goddamn spotlight?

After a very warm reception from a very middle aged audience, the rest of the band came out. This is where her troubles continued. The sound guy must have been napping with the lighting engineer, because for the first 2 songs, Duffy was definitely competing with her band to be heard. All told, she did a great job in the face of this.

After that, the sound balance was adjusted and we were off to the races.

One of the gambles you take when you go and see someone in concert is finding out whether the artist sounds as good live as they do in the studio. Sometimes you don't even find that out. I am thinking of a Grace Jones concert I went to in 1980, where a very high Grace Jones attempted to lip sync her way, unsuccessfully, through her show. If it wasn't a high point in my concert going career, it does have that clusterfuck value in that it was a memorabley bad show, that was fun at the time because my friends an I were going to press this one in our little book of memories to be taken out and examined whenever we needed a funny story.

Duffy I can say, sounds as good in person if not better than on her album. It was fun to hear her interpret the music for a live crowd. The live crowd was the other obstacle that the poor woman had to deal with. Not that they weren't enthusiastic. They were in a quiet, middle aged, suburban kind of way. I don't know if I had ever realized until Saturday, how much and audience can affect the atmosphere of a concert.

Duffy tried to get a little energy going and as the show progressed, she did to a large extent succeed. By the time she sang Mercy, she actually managed to get some of the audience up on stage with her dancing.

All in all, it was a good show. I think because I got to see her in less than optimal circumstances and she managed to pull it off. If her stage presence lacked the polish of some of the big headliners that are around now, what she did have in abundance was the enthusiasm of someone who at 24 is doing something they love and who is giving off a vibe of "I can't believe I'm getting paid to do this".

I'd love to see her again, next time in a venue where she is getting a little more from her audience, and I am hoping that one of the new songs she did gets released as a single, since I could use some new music to dance to in my head.

Oh, before I forget, Duffy is absolutely adorable, and I am assured by Joe who first alerted me to Duffy that she is a real charmer in person. He got to meet her and she bummed a cigarette off of him. The lucky dog.

Thanks to CB for the post title