2005-07-21 - Glee Club, Birmingham

On Stage :

Solo concert, with painting session.


Setlist :

she paints me gold
leave us alone
all of our hands
invisible hands
eyes on my back
echo park
vacancy
can't exist
speed of light
a smile that explodes
straw dogs
i am
even tho
prison
ashes everywhere
don't give up on people
birthday card
you've been loved


Recording :

This concert was officially recorded, and sold on CDr after the show.

Review :

5th August 2005
Picasso meets Beck? : Joseph Arthur Birmingham Glee Club

When I heard that I was going to be interviewing and reviewing one of the most exciting and unique live performers in the US, talented singer-songwriter Joseph Arthur, I had to do a bit of research.

I knew nothing about the Ohio born, New York dwelling, singer-songwriter, but everything I read intrigued me.

In the mid 90s, Arthur was working in a guitar shop on minimum wage when he got home to find an answer phone message from Peter Gabriel, who had heard his demo tape and wanted to see him perform live.

Arthur hastily set up a gig, which Gabriel and his friend Lou Reed attended and was soon signed to Gabriel's Real World label, where he recorded three albums.

His fourth album, Our Shadows Will Remain, has seen him became label mates with Damien Rice on 14th Floor Records and has brought him over the pond for a small venue tour.

The album, released in 2004, received high acclaim stateside featuring in a number of the Best of 2004 polls in Wall St Journal, New York Post and Entertainment Weekly.

Joseph Arthur spoke to me from his apartment in Brooklyn, New York. He reflected on musical influences: "I would listen to Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Iggy Pop and The Stooges to Nirvana and Hip Hop.

"The record I would keep going back to was The Rolling Stones 'Tattoo You'."

Leaving New York behind him, Joseph headed to New Orleans to begin the new record. He divided his time spent writing new music and painting.

"Being very open minded, I was able to create an abstract theme with this record, a kind of black and white imagery. And being on the road I drew from lots of emotion involved."

Reason enough to entice you to Arthur's Glee Club performance? Probably. But throw in the fact that he's toured with REM and Coldplay and it is not hard to see why the venue on Thursday was packed.

"During earlier shows in the US, Michael Stipe would introduce me on stage, which would open the door wide open for me to deliver my performance."

Watching Arthur glide through his repertoire of soul-searching, reflective melodies I felt as if I was intruding on his inner most thoughts, as if I had stumbled into his bedroom and found him musing on life's tribulations.

His songs tell of love, heartache and walks in the park and he softly sings his lyrics while deftly recording backing beats and vocals which he plays back with aid of a system of foot pedals, crafting slow beats and a unique low-key New York style.

Arthur is often compared with Jeff Buckley and even his label-mate Damien Rice, but there is one thing that markedly sets him apart from his contemporaries.

Between coolly strumming his guitar, mixing stark backing tracks and giving a turn on the harmonica and keyboard, he creates pieces of artwork.

At the back of the stage a large canvas had been hung and below it sat rows of paint.

Initially I expected this addition to his one-man show to be gimmicky (and arguably it earns him more press attention), but watching him in action, creating skeletal abstract faces on the canvas and smearing reds, oranges and blues over the top, it was clear that it comes as naturally to him as playing his guitar and shifting his distortion pedal.

Picasso meets Beck was what I wrote as I watched him create music and art in unison.

At the moment, his reputation for off-beat performance has earned him cult status in the UK; I suspect that the release of Our Shadows Will Remain, and his tour of the UK's more intimate venues, will raise his status and push him firmly towards the mainstream.

Matthew Rea