Omni - An Intimate Live Experience
Techno beats, folk sensitivity and a sweaty room. The magic of Douglas Dare live in Amsterdam. He’s quite a singular artist: a very experienced and inspired musician with a talent for melody and a sophisticated approach to songwriting. Which is quite uncommon to get these days, as we’re slowly becoming more and more used to mediocre songs and artists who don’t even know how to boot up a DAW session. Douglas, on the other hand, is a true creative.
His latest album, “Omni”, released earlier this year, quickly rose up to my personal top 5 of 2024 because of its sensitivity to harmony, expertly interwoven with a study on electronic beats. From the first song I was whisked away to an avant-garde soundscape adorned with Douglas’s soft vocals, which tell stories of multitude and elegantly chronicle facets of human experience. So you can imagine how excited I was to go see his live tour in Amsterdam, where I currently reside.
”Omni” by Douglas Dare - album cover art. © All rights belong to their respective owners. No copyright infringement intended.
I have a very difficult approach to live gigs, as a musician myself I always find it a bit frustrating to be stuck on the “other” side of the stage, as it so often feels to me, and I am usually very resistant and skeptical (and judgy, to be completely honest). This time, however, I was more than happy to let go of my cynicism and be entertained. So I went in not really knowing what to expect (I somehow managed to escape the plethora of videos and tik toks that my algorithm kept trying to feed me), yet I was hopeful and trusting of where the music itself would take me.
It’s difficult to be entertained sometimes. I have observed many times that when you are on stage, especially in intimate venues, the most common kind of spectator opposes a lot of resistance to the idea of having fun, and just ends up staring at you blankly, trying to force a smile with their arms crossed. And I don’t think this crowd was particularly easy.
As soon as Douglas went on stage and the title track started playing, the room was captivated. The beats, the atmosphere, the incredible vocals and the tasteful more stripped down moments took me on a rollercoaster of emotions that I hadn’t felt in a while. Douglas transformed the room into a dark club, and the contrast between the thumping, techno-esque beats of “Mouth to Mouth” and his latest re-release “One Eye Open” (absolute standout for me, made me dance like an absolute maniac), juxtaposed to a few cuts from his folk album “Milkteeth” was a joy to the ears and soul. The show was packed full of fun moments as well as deep and introverted gems.
When I came out, although sweaty and spent, I was, as the kids say these days, fed. Douglas had previously said on stage that he would be out to sell some records, so I waited for him and we exchanged a few words. There’s always a feeling of fellowship when it comes to artists that makes us feel like we’re on the same boat. And unfortunately, these days that boat is not really sailing like it used to for anyone. Costs of touring are skyrocketing, making it impossible for musicians to make any money even with fully booked tour dates. Brexit has not made it easy on anyone in the music industry and it’s always harder to get any money from royalties and streaming. But to the intrepid, like Douglas, who do decide to venture out, even at the cost of staying on a friend’s couch, as a fan of music, I say thank you. All humans do is try to get entertained. It’s about time that the world catches up.
