Badly Drawn Boy - Aviva Studios, Manchester, 18/4/2025

by Shirley Procter

published: 8 / 7 / 2025

Badly Drawn Boy - Aviva Studios, Manchester, 18/4/2025

Badly Drawn Boy plays a storming night at Aviva Studios in Manchester. Shirley Proctor is our guide.

Article

I'm at Aviva Studios in Manchester’s Factory International building, waiting for Badly Drawn Boy to take the stage. I’m sitting really high up, not use there definitely isn’t enough room for one! You can always recognise singer songwriter Damon Gough from Bolton (or by his stage name Badly Drawn Boy) by his trademark tea-cosy hats. In the Generation X bar in Manchester in the 90s he met Andy Votel and together they set up independent label Twisted Nerve (named after the Bryan Forbes film) which released several well-received Badly Drawn Boy EPs that decade. In June 2000 BDB released ‘The Hour of Bewilderbeast’, his debut album, which won that year’s Mercury Music Prize. This year is its 25th anniversary – hence the tour. While we wait, with the stage lit in blue someone from the theatre appears, and after a quick discussion they remove two seats per person with a wheelchair/scooter, so no one will be trying to squeeze in next to me. Badly Drawn Boy walks onto the stage and calls out, “Good evening, Manchester. We’re going to play the whole of the album, then have a short break, then play a few more songs. So this is the 2025 version of ‘The Hour of Bewilderbeast’.’ Strings start playing and the band opens with “The Shining’. This is soooo good! The backdrop is red, like an old-style theatre curtain, with yellow lights facing the crowd. Then the light turns white, and the band segue into ‘Everybody’s Stalking’. This is a strange, scary song, but it sounds great with drums pushing the beat while guitars hammer out driving riffs. 3.1There are four guitars, two keyboards, drums and a synth, which currently sounds like an accordion. This particular band have only been with BDB for a month, but they are playing well together. ‘Fall in a River’ starts, with the keyboards picking up the tune, while next up – oh, I love the sounds the instruments are making, and the crowd clearly recognise the tune – it’s ‘Camping Next to Water’. The band have such a clear sound, showing off the simple sounding tunes with great rhythms and harmonies. BDB tells us, “Thank you. Honestly, I’m struggling up here because this is a hometown show, my nerves are shot. I’m going to do my best. Then next two songs on the album were produced by Andy (the DJ)”, a reference to former co-label boss Andy Votel. The crowd roar and clap, and the opening chords of ‘Stone on the Water’ start. It’s a song with pretty drum rhythms and interesting guitar licks. He starts to sing and the melody compliments the guitars beautifully. or all his declared nerves, you can’t tell, and his voice is great. Next up is a faster song, ‘Another Pearl’. Like other BDB songs, this one sounds quite simple but is actually quite complex when you really listen to it. He tells us, “Thanks a lot. I think I’m starting to settle down, thank you for bearing with me,” as the backing to ‘Body Rap’ starts to play. It’s a really short song, it finishes, and they immediately move into ‘Once Around the Block’. The spotlights have changed into white stylised flowers that dance over the crowd as the song plays. It’s a faster, delightful tune that the crowd love. The keyboard player has a rhythm egg: I love the sound they make! The song finishes and the crowd roars. Next up is ‘This Song’ which is lovely. “Thanks a lot, you’re very kind just for staying with me. I’m not making this up, you never know how you’re going to feel when you come on stage. This song became the title of the album, it has no lyrics. You’ll be pleased to know we’re halfway through now,” and then they play '‘Bewilderbeast’. “My son is here tonight: Oscar. This is another song, as you’d expect, the sentiment of this song is about when we moved house, my mum and dad are here tonight, I was 13 in 1983, my mum and dad wanted to better ourselves. They did the right thing, as we were happier after the move.” The song is ‘Magic in the Air’. The crowd love this, cheering part way through the song. There’s a spotlight on BDB as he plays the tune on the piano. The stage goes dark, figures roam around, the lights come back on and there’s yellow spotlights at the back of the stage. It’s ‘Cause a Rockslide’ which has a strong guitar rhythm and ends with a countdown, at which point BDB goes all rockstar and kicks over a stool. It’s a strange ending with lots of discordant noise and the stage lights all blue. Next up is “Pissing in the Wind”, a song my son has been waiting all night because we don’t swear in front of each other. He was waiting for me to check what it was called but of course I didn’t need to! He just laughed. This is a surprisingly dainty song: gentle and tuneful. The crowd are singing along with it. The lights have turned the stage pink and yellow now, the band start ‘Blistered Heart” with a photographer lying flat out on the stage in front of them. He must be an official ‘tog, as we’re normally only allowed to take pictures during the first three songs. Next comes ‘Disillusion’, a faster-paced song with a great beat. The flower-shaped lights roam over the crowd again as it plays. We’re near the end of the album now, as Damon thanks us and immediately starts into the slower ‘Say it Again’. “Thank you. Thanks a lot, we made it to the end, thank fuck. This is ‘Epitaph’”, which he has to stop and restart the song. It’s just him playing on acoustic guitar now, the band standing in the background watching. He changes from strumming to picking the tune, a pretty sound, then it’s back to strumming for the verse. “Thanks a lot, you were amazing, I wasn’t at my best. See you in 10-15 minutes, when I’ll be better.” The band leave the stage, and my son fetches us some drinks. Part two, when the band return, is a much shorter set than part one, and it’s made up of random songs from the BDB back catalogue. The house lights go down and then as the stage is bathed in blue again the band return and the crowd cheer, whoop and clap. “Thanks a lot guys, you’ve been amazing. Thanks a lot for your support over the years, and for supporting live music. We’re going to start with a song called ‘You Were Right’” A great tune: I love this one, as do the rest of the crowd. “Thanks a lot, this next one is ‘A Journey from A to B’. I’m really settling down and enjoying this show, thank you” and he starts to play. I’ve noticed that his voice is lower - some songs, he’s singing an octave lower than he did on the original track. This song has great harmonies, sung by the acoustic guitarist. The crowd cheer, whistle and clap as the song finishes. The stage goes dark. “I wrote this song in 1994, well I started to. I wrote it in my mum and dads print works. I didn’t release it into 2010. I started writing songs to connect to people. We’re living in really challenging times right now, the only thing that counts is connecting with people. This song is called ‘This Electric’, and ooh, the egg shaker is back! The keyboards sound very synth-like, it’s a lovely tune with a great beat. The ‘tog is roaming all over the stage, is behind the drummer now, taking shots of people’s backs! “Thank you, this song is, I get quite emotional talking about it. Amazing things happened, and the combination of brass and things, this song became the most important thing in my life, cos this song became used as part of an advert for Comet, the ad had a brass section, the guys were skipping as they took fridges and freezers into the store to be sold. It was just so successful, it was beautiful. It was supposed to be six months, but it was two years, Edith Bowman did the vocals. We’d watch the video together and get drunk. It was a white goods utopian world. I thought I’d just play it in case some of that magic rubs off on anyone. It’s called ‘All Possibilities’”. I’d forgotten the Comet advert campaign. I’ll have to look for it when I go home. It’s a great song, fast paced, with a driving rhythm. He segues into ‘Thinking of You’, the old Sister Sledge number. “Thanks a lot, guys, you’ve been really kind tonight. This is a sad song, and is really quite delicate. It’s about my sister Gemma and her husband Drew. Their marriage didn’t last, and it’s about Drew leaving Gemma in safe hands with her family. It’s called ‘In Safe Hands’”. It’s such a pretty tune, with an echo on the vocals. It’s lovely but the lyrics are so sad. “Thanks a lot, love to Gemma. This is a song off our new album, it’s five years old now, the new album, we didn’t get chance to tour it because of lockdown, I’m going to put some songs together and release them as a 1,000-track box set. This is my current favourite, ‘Apple Tree Boulevard’.” A couple of people call out saying it’s their favourite too, and he thanks them and starts to play. The acoustic guitarist is back on keyboards. “Thank you. I want to quickly, I want to say lots to people about the support you give me. It always happens when I come on stage back in Manchester. There’s only ten of us, five band and five crew. They all work so hard, so thank you for all your hard work. The thing about touring is you’re on the road with people, I’ve only been with this band for just over a month, and they are great. He then names all the band and thanks them individually. They’ve been amazing. Let’s give you all ‘Something to Talk About’” which they then start to play and we all sing along. I love this song. The crowd cheer and clap as the bandfinishes, he carries on playing the chorus slowly. “Thanks a lot. This next one is going to be a special moment, not joking this time. It’s about a true Manchester legend, Tony Wilson, we’re in Tony’s spiritual stomping ground. Me and Andy started Twisted Nerve records, I just wanted to see my song on a 7” vinyl. Without Andy, I wouldn’t have got this far, he found out how we could do it. We pressed 700 singles, took them to the shops ourselves, and 500 copies just disappeared. Tony phoned Andy and we went to meet him, he came bounding into the room, clasping his hands in victory for a while, us just looking at each other. He went to a blackboard and wrote who had inspired him. He included us and wanted to tell us he was proud of us, and he was there for us if we needed help. We saw him several times over the years. I was sat at a piano, working on a chord progression, and it popped into my head. It’s called ‘Tony Wilson Said’”. He’s back on keyboards, and I can hear a harmonica playing, it’s a fast-paced song and is great. “Thanks a lot, God bless Tony. This is a song off the latest album, it’s about seeing your children growing up. Watching Eddie and Oscar growing up and going out into the world and wanting to be there and keep them safe. It’s called ‘Fly on The Wall’”. I know that feeling: even when they are adults, it never goes away. This is another pretty tune, the crowd are clapping long with the keyboards that sound more like a cross between tubular bells and glockenspiel than piano. “Thank you, thanks a lot. This next song, sorry to end on a sad note. In my family, we lost our brother Simon in 2021, he died on his own. I want to dedicate this to anyone whose lost someone. He inspired me and was so proud of me. One of my greatest achievements is Simon getting to meet some of his heroes through my music. It’s called ‘Promises’, so thank you”. The song starts on keyboard, with spotlights focused on the keyboards. It’s such a sad song, but beautiful, too. The rest of the band join in after the first verse and chorus. “Thank you, good night and God bless, you’ve been amazing.” He stands with the band and applaud us, they all take a well-earned bow together, as the crowd stand, clapping, cheering, whistling and calling for more. This was brilliant!