Americana? Rock ‘n’ Roll? Heartland Rock? Neckerchief Rock? Soul? Country (?!) No matter the genre, there’s usually no question that they’re one of the best live bands on the scene. But what happens when they’ve been off the live circuit for a while? Coming back with a bang to one of the largest venues they’ve headlined, seeing Danny & The Champions of the World live in London was a prime opportunity to see how they’ve matured and evolved ahead of their comprehensive UK tour next spring.
November 2, 2024: Annie Dressner and Danny & The Champions of the World live in London at The Garage
A cold open of a weather report by BBC’s Sarah Keith Lucas indicated to those in the know that Danny & The Champions of The World’s new album opener would open the show too. The traditional tumble of cymbals and raring to go riffs of live musicians about to be unleashed soon melded into the opening motif of Talking A Good Game.
It was a bold choice; a renowned live band returning to a big stage after a considerable absence with a song that demands close listening. While it exploded into life musically, the lyrics and vocal delivery were restrained and introspective.
Close attention was rewarded by snippets of the philosophy that fueled the Champs’ new album, namely variations on Alan Watts‘ musings on the individual’s place in the vastness of the universe.
“The meaning of life is just to be alive. It is so plain and so obvious and so simple. And yet, everybody rushes around in a great panic as if it were necessary to achieve something beyond themselves.”
Alan Watts
Vocalist and songwriter Danny George Wilson responded with his own plain yet profound revelation: “I just wanna make you happy/I just wanna share some love/I know it all sounds so simple/But it’s all I’ve got.”
“You didn’t come into this world. You came out of it, like a wave from the ocean. You are not a stranger here.”
Alan Watts
Thus, in the dying bars of the songs, the origin of the new album’s title was revealed. You Are Not A Stranger Here’s tracklisting was respected with Kicking Tyres played second. The band showed supreme confidence in their own abilities and their fans’ trust in them by opting for an extended intro rather then belting through the new tracks. They were rewarded with another meditative musing on artifice and protective bravado. Those familiar with Wilson’s back catalogue may have recognised raw honesty reminiscent of Bennett Wilson Poole’s Hide Behind A Smile.
We were taken from the newest record to the oldest with a deep dive and big splash into These Days from 2008’s self-titled debut. Rather an interesting pairing because for all the optimism and danceability of the melody, lyrically it’s just as introspective: “All my disappointment burns through my bones/through my body/always waiting for the morning.” In this light, could You Are Not A Stranger Here be a statement of refusal to hide behind an upbeat facade these days?
“It’s amazing to see your lovely faces” wasn’t just generic stage patter. The crowd was full of family, friends, a handful of celebrities, and even the odd babysitting kid or two!
Waiting For The Right Time, the lead single from 2017’s Brilliant Light, injected a dose of optimism with a flash of the philosophy that You Are Not A Stranger Here would later explore in greater depth: “I forgot about the simple things/love and friendships and songs to sing/I remembered love is everything/I’m gonna find my way.” Guitarist Paul Lush – a popular figure judging from the crowd chanting his name between songs – particularly impressed in the playout.
No time to rest, though. The band pushed straight into a Springsteen/The Gaslight Anthem style story song drenched in ’59 sound, called Hearts and Arrows. Bassist Joe Bennet was a breath of fresh air with a perma-smile.
He teamed up with his The Dreaming Spires bandmate Thomas Collison on backing vocals, before Collison provided an excellent keyboard solo.
Lush righted his amp that had been knocked over in the melee and then led the band into one of his own compositions – indeed, one of the band’s standout tracks within a strong back catalogue – Never In The Moment.
Keeping up a similar groove, Thinking About My Friend was dedicated to the large proportion of the audience that have a strong personal connection to the band members (and the others that feel like they do). The friends in the band were introduced in turn, each taking an extended solo. Bennett and Collison added effective doo wop backing vocals too.
We stayed in the ’50s influenced orbit for a quick version of Stay True. A few lyrical mistakes were easily adjusted for and could have gone without saying so, of course, Wilson admitted it immediately!
If he’d been sponsored for how many times he could say “Miles Hunt” in a single anecdote, some charity would be doing very well right now. Wilson had witnessed a Shiiine On festival crowd booing Hunt for jokingly threatening to play new songs instead of The Wonder Stuff classics.
No such problem here, as the crowd welcomed You Are Not A Stranger Here’s first single, I’m In Love – a song inspired by a lovingly curated collection of material possessions and the memories they hold. Henry Senior’s prominent pedal steel playing was a good warm up for his starring role in the next new track, Future Past.
This delighted Senior’s Ukrainian fan club ensconced on the front row cheering for Henry (the man; not to be mistaken with fan favourite Champs song Henry The Van.)
Wilson introduced his Future Past co-writing partner, original Champion of the World, Bennet Wilson Poole bandmate, third Dreaming Spires member of the night, and Joe Bennett’s brother (real sibling, not Champs style figurative brother) Robin Bennett.
Here, his role was backing vocals for Danny & The Champions of the World’s latest single, The Robot Cries.
The brothers remained united for another Champsian track about brothers, possibly of the found family variety, Restless Feet.
“Anyone got their dancing shoes on? We think if this had been released in 1976 and we’d have been on Pebble Mill, it would have been a hit!”
Danny George Wilson
Clear Water might not have been a hit in the conventional ‘Pebble Mill’ sense, but it won a Americana Music Association UK award, plus the hearts of Champs fans who enjoy a good singalong.
The fan calling for “walking down the steps (sic) of the Borderline” was rewarded with Every Beat Of My Heart. It was a showcase for Steve Brookes who, in this instance, was the drummer playing every beat of our hearts (woah oh).
With a hard deadline ahead and plenty of their famous extended solos in the rearview mirror, the band delighted themselves and the crowd with a sped up version of new song, Sooner or Later.
Finally, marrying the old with the new, the set was closed out with perennial crowd-pleaser (Never Stop Building) That Old Space Rocket.
Hopefully everyone who was waiting until the show to pick up their copy of the new record got in line in time because there was a brisk turnaround from venue to club night, so no lingering allowed. Just as well, really; the band and a large portion of the audience soon had an arm in a coat and a foot out the door on the way to the afterparty at the band’s spiritual home, The Betsey Trotwood.
Annie Dressner live in London at The Garage
Annie Dressner set the stage for the introspective lyrics to come with a heartfelt confessional about anxiety and low self-esteem, I’ve Always Been Like This. She explained: “I put a record out earlier this year called I Thought It Would Be Easier because sometimes life is difficult.”
Nonetheless, Dressner came across as warm and easygoing on stage. The New York native even got in a local joke early: “I’m really excited to be here at The Garage. I think I learned how to say it properly” (i.e. with a hard a, not whatever is happening with the pronunciation of ‘GarageBand’).
She was surprised how many people in the crowd had visited suburban village Nyack, the subject of her second song, urging them to find her after the show to explain why!
New song For The Thrill Of It particularly stood out. After a list of infractions of increasing degrees of severity (pulling sweater thread, double dipping chips, playing with defibrillators) we got the ultimate transgression: “Do you take single items…you know they’re not for resale/you’re not meant to buy them like that.”
Dressner amused again when teaching the crowd how to sing along to a chorus they weren’t familiar with: “You can either be the person who sings it three times, or the one who everybody might look at who sings it a fourth time.”
She left us with a song exemplifying the ‘I thought it would be easier’ refrain; nothing in life could prepare you for being out with your family and seeing a poster for an ex from ten years ago now running for mayor, after all!
Dressner was effusive about the new Danny & The Champions of the World album: “Their new record’s beautiful. Wilson was equally complimentary about Dressner’s work. This mutual appreciation is bound to continue when Dressner supports the band on their UK tour in March 2025.
Danny & The Champions of the World live in London setlist
- Talking A Good Game
- Kicking Tyres
- These Days
- Waiting For The Right Time
- Hearts and Arrows
- Never In The Moment
- Thinking About My Friend
- Stay True
- I’m In Love
- The Robot Cries
- Restless Feet
- Clear Water
- Every Beat Of My Heart
- Sooner Or Later
- (Never Stop Building) That Old Space Rocket
Check out musiccloseup.com for more music news, reviews and photography!
Discover more from Music Closeup
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.