Project Description
DAVID DUCHOVNY
at Anita’s Theatre
(25 February 2018)
Live Review
By Benjamin Smith
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The grand old theatre that is Anita’s in Thirroul is one of those places that gives an air of grace to whatever is taking up space on its stages. Tonight that happens to be none other than one David Duchovny, television’s favourite son Hank Moody, Fox Mulder and a bunch of other characters of less repute. About 3 years ago Duchovny released his debut record Hell or Highwater, a low key affair in which Duchovny himself took on most of the writing duties.
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WINTERBOURNE . Photo – Nicky Carrall
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Warming up for Duchovny and his band are Winterbourne, a folk duo whose sound is perhaps a little generic but is delivered with harmonies so angelic they almost make up for the absence of anything particularly novel. If the music thing ever fails for these kids they might find a space on the stand up circuit, so good is the banter between them.
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DAVID DUCHOVNY . Photo – Nicky Carrall
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DAVID DUCHOVNY . Photo – Nicky Carrall
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When Duchovny takes the stage two things become clear. One, that the band he’s assembled for the purposes of the tour are an extremely talented collection of musicians. Two, that Duchovny is never going to take out any awards for vocalist of the year.
Many of the songs are heartfelt confessional type tracks, in a couple of cases tributes to his late father. Most have a fairly sombre sensibility, reminiscent of something Bruce Springsteen might have done mid-way through his career, or at least that someone trying to emulate the Boss’ work from that period might come up with.
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What he does have is a good sense of how to win a crowd and despite the gaps in his vocal abilities the Duchovnics warm to him in way that seasoned performers would envy. In a moment of musical cliché too ludicrous not to mention a piece of female underwear finds its way from the depths of the crowd to the stage. They do a few covers, including The Band classic The Weight and at the end of the show Crowded House’s Don’t Dream its Over. On the latter, Duchovny decides to bow out and allow his keyboardist to take lead vocals, which he does with genuine nuance.
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DAVID DUCHOVNY . Photo – Nicky Carrall
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DAVID DUCHOVNY . Photo – Nicky Carrall
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Its difficult to know how to judge a performance like this one. On the one hand if it wasn’t being delivered by a huge TV star, no one might have paid enough attention for it to get to a stage this size in the first place. On the other hand many of Duchovny’s acting colleagues have tried their hand in similar vein with considerably less success. Charm and charisma might not be everything but they count for a lot. After all, would anyone have given a shit about Mick Jagger if he’s been a 3 octave vocalist without the strut and swagger?
I suppose the question is, did the people who showed up enjoy the show? Judging by their reaction the answer to that is a pretty convincing yes. In the end does anything else even matter?
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Check out Nicky Carrall’s gallery of this event HERE
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