David Ford, Mercury Lounge, New York, N.Y. - October 28, 2008

I've never seen David Ford before, but I was serendipitously introduced while on a road trip to Annapolis. Ironically, I did enjoy Songs For The Road. A friend invites me to see him live in NYC, and promises me that I will enjoy it.

The extremely small, dark and intimate room in the Mercury is just about the perfect setting for a performance. As we wait for him to start, he passes by us a few times while setting up. How refreshing to see the real thing.

He starts off with "Nothing At All", and jokes to the audience about how he just got back from his humiliation tour, where he was touring cities that he's never been to before, and wound up singing for bar staff instead of a crowd. New York is quite different, and as a woman, I am the minority on this cold night at the Mercury. It's quiet, and "I'm Alright Now" is when you can feel the fans become one during that moment. But, "Requiem" is what I've been waiting for. His lyrics are poetically romantic playing with political opinions and social destruction. The music plays with your senses, and loudly fills the room - just as loud as his lyrics. Admiration and hope is what I feel, and as the election is near, it feels like the crowd is connected. To see him perform live is an experience in itself. Ford is the modern one-man band - looping different instruments and his own voice while he sings powerful and sometimes melancholy lyrics.

As he comes back onto the cramped stage with all of his instruments, " Go to Hell" becomes the encore where each instrument (including his voice) run into each other like lovers who reunite. Do I even have to say it? My friend was more than just right.

After the show we saw David walk through the crowd a few times, and finally we said, "hello."