14/06/2010 | City And Colour – HMV Forum, London

Tackling two distinct genres that to most seem poles apart is a pretty risky proposition. Afterall, there are literally thousands of artists and musicians who struggle to get a proper grip on just the one. However for Dallas Green, who first made his fame with the Canadian post-hardcore group Alexisonfire, it seems that there are no such issues. Tonight at the HMV Forum he performs his self penned folk acoustic compositions as City and Colour (Dallas is a city, Green is a colour) to a sold out London crowd, confirming that he has achieved the kind of crossover success most can only dream of.

Opening with Comin’ Home I have  to confess that, although I have seen the Spice Girls live in concert surrounded by squealing 13 year old’s, I have still not heard fans scream in quite the same way as they do when Dallas walks on stage. Beginning the track with only his acoustic guitar for accompaniment it quickly becomes clear that the recorded version can never quite do justice to the sweetness in his voice or the tender longing in the lyrics that come across live. Mid way through he is joined by the band who add another dimension and, generating a weightier sound to that achieved on either of the albums they tackle Waiting in a way which is quite spellbinding.

Forming a rich wall of acoustic sounds they move through other highlights from his previous albums including The Girl from Bring Me Your Love and the title track of his first album Sometimes. However, the audience are also granted a number of new tracks including Silver and Cold and a song written about his sister. It seems though that fans will have to wait a little longer for a third album as Dallas is not a man to be rushed. As members of the audience shout out for Save Your Scissors he suggests that if you yell out in a cinema, the film isn’t going to be changed and so we are forced to wait until the encore. Similarly, the material he delivers is the culmination of a life’s dedication and work, so it would be wrong to suggest it should be hurried along.

www.cityandcolour.ca