David Sylvian
London Royal Festival Hall
17th September, 2007

View: middle, rear stalls

David Sylvian always had the ability to surprise his audience and, ably backed by brother Steve Jansen on drums, Keith Lowe on bass, Takuma Watanabe on piano, and Theo Foley on woodwinds, Sylvian weaved a clever path through old and new material. Opening with Wonderful World, he featured several songs by Nine Horses but interspersed these with older numbers such as Ride, Brilliant Trees and Ghosts, from his Japan days. He achieved the right balance, and though his decision to perform much of the older material in medleys frustrated some, encoring with Every Colour You Are, Riverman and Wanderlust sent most fans away happy. One small gripe – why no interval? The show was spoilt by people getting up and down during songs to visit the bar. Rumour has it that this was his last tour, but hopefully he’ll return at some point with a new album.

Reviewed by Andrew Neil
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