Gig review: DANNY VAUGHN – The Grace, London, 4 December 2022

December 18th, 2022 by andynathan

Danny Vaughn was one of those troubadours who made lockdown life more bearable for rock fans with his ‘Vaughnsday’ on line acoustic performances from his living room. The pandemic had interrupted his usual busy schedule, whether solo, with Tyketto or the Snake Oil and Harmony combo with Dan Reed. Indeed the latter’s shows were among the earliest casualties when covid started to take its deadly grip, and after countless more postponements and with Dan now busy with filming activity Danny took the decision to take his own solo show on the road.

The New Yorker opened with ‘The Last Sunset’, one of the Tyketto songs naturally suited to this format but what struck me on the next two, Snake Oil and Harmony’s ‘Last Man Standing’ and the title track from the last Tyketto album ‘Reach’ (apparently written for his wife) -was how raw and powerful his voice was even in this stripped down format. It was even more praiseworthy as clearly suffering from a cold, he was self medicating between songs.

The real treat for fans- a healthy number of which packed this small venue -was a setlist that changed nightly and reflected fan requests. Even better, radio DJ like he read out the requesters by name, adding to the feeling we were at an intimate private party and confirming how his lockdown activity had strengthened an already close bond with his fans.

This connoisseur’s choice included a song off each of the From the Inside project albums in ‘Telemetry’ and ‘Blessing in Disguise’, the latter one of my favourites of the night, and ‘Missouri Kid’ from the recent ‘Myths Legends and Lies’ album. The variety of styles was impressive including lighter moments such as ‘That’s What She Said’ and the country rock ish ‘Circle the Wagons’, yet there was no need to resort to a single cover, often a staple when an artist goes acoustic.

Though there was a lusty singalong to ‘Nothing But Love’, there were relatively few Tyketto classics which can be saved when their revamped line-up hits the road in 2023. Instead a generous selection from the two Vaughn albums brought back memories of the early 2000s when he constantly seemed to be on the road – the tongue in cheek ode to good ole southerners in ‘Dulcimer Street’, ‘Shadowlands’, pretty much the only song where there was an acoustic guitar solo of any length , and ‘Is That All There Is’, where he left a gap for fans to shout out the ‘co-dependent and f**ked up as hell’ line.

Always one of the best raconteurs (along with his Snake Oil partner) it was a pleasure to hear stories of inspiration of songs, everywhere from his New York childhood to trying to make it in LA. I’ve seen him countless times and yet still heard fresh insights such as his recruitment by Waysted when their management sought someone who could soar to those higher notes, though this time he requested assistance for ‘Heaven Tonight’.

Those Tyketto songs that were played either suited the format such as ‘Seasons’ or were ones that would never make a live set such as a song from ‘Dig in Deep’ that they never played live in the poppy ‘Evaporate’. ‘Where the Water Goes’ was another Dan Reed collaboration while ‘The Voice’ could almost have been autobiographical.

By now the strain of his cold was starting to show on his voice so there was no shame whatsoever in calling it a day after an hour and three quarters, finishing with the Gaelic strains of what he called an Irish fighting song in ‘The Shadow of King John’ and a rootsy, bluesy take of ‘Don’t Come Easy’ favourite ‘Lay Your Body Down’.

Acoustic shows are not easy to perform well but Danny Vaughn has the voice, the songs and the communication skills to be a master of the format, and ensure his bandmates and collaborators were not missed in this compelling performance.

Review and Photos by Andy Nathan

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions, streamed via Facebook.
In 2023 he signed a recording deal with Sony in Canada and released a new single on 15 September.

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Power Plays w/c 28 October 2024

THE RASMUS Rest In Pieces (Better Noise Music)
THE PLAGUE What Else Can I Do (FiXT)
STAR CIRCUS Turn The Tide (indie)
DEFENCES Breathe It In (Long Branch Records)

Featured Albums w/c 28 October 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Singer Songwriter)