David Gray

The Odyssey stage has been transformed into a luxurious theatre setting – all red velvet drapes and surprising elegance. Gray suddenly appears in front of the curtain, seated behind a piano. With a jubilant wave, he opens the show with ‘The Other Side’.

Though the new album has only been available two weeks, an impressive section of the audience are already singing along. Half way through the track, the curtains part to reveal the full band – complete with obligatory crazy drummer in loud Hawaiian shirt.

Gray is in jubilant form. It’s the second night of two sold-out Odyssey shows and he’s laughing all way to the mic. “I recognise you,” he says to the 7,000-plus crowd, “You were at the Limelight show last time…” It’s obvious that recent fame hasn’t diva-fied him – the scuffed trainers and scruffy army-shirt clearly visible on the black and white video screens on each side of the stage. “Tonight I’m gonna be playing songs from all the albums… except White Ladder!” he jokes, before launching into the title track of that particular record breaker.

The set is a healthy mix of old and new with Van’s ‘And It Stoned Me’ thrown in for local good measure and the Velvet Underground’s ‘Pale Blue Eyes’ finding it’s way into the ten song encore. But it’s ‘Sail Away’ and ‘Please Forgive Me’ that really engage the audience. The latter closes the show, a monumental extended reworking that gelled superbly with fairground visuals on a vast screen at the back of the stage.

Not the most challenging or exciting show ever – but tonight was a celebration of the triumph