A daring David Gray climbs the entire “White Ladder,” mounds more on Northerly Island

Photos by Andy Argyrakis

At the turn of the century, David Gray brought a breath of fresh air to American radio thanks to the clever cocktail of alternative rock, folk and electronica found throughout “White Ladder.”

Of course, the singer/songwriter was already a huge star on his home turf in England, but after getting picked up by Dave Matthews’ ATO Records and selling more than seven-million copies of the album, there was hardly a corner of the globe that wasn’t aware of this mash-up master.

After two years of pandemic-related delays, Gray finally got to bring a belated 20th birthday celebration of the collection to Huntington Bank Pavilion At Northerly Island in what turned out to be a picturesque evening.

However, before working up to the main event, he had a lifetime’s worth of other material to sample, including “You’re The World To Me,” “Fugitive,” “Be Mine,” “The One I Love” and “Nemesis,” accompanied by a four-piece band and a kaleidoscope of visuals.

During all of the two-part night, Gray’s vocals sounded virtually identical to his recordings, though the audience sometimes sang nearly as loud during second half starters “Please Forgive Me” and “Babylon,” which were both giant hits back then but haven’t aged a bit.

He moved into mellower territory with “My Oh My” and “Silver Lining,” ramped up for the rhythmic title track and glided through “Sail Away,” frequently switching between the keyboard and guitar.

The “White Ladder” segment wrapped with Gray’s acoustic transformation of Soft Cell’s sublime “Say Hello, Wave Goodbye,” though he encored with that fellow English act’s rendition of the even more familiar “Tainted Love,” prior to channeling his inner David Bowie for “Life On Mars?” and more.

Clocking in at around two hours, Gray certainly made up for the unexpectedly lengthy gap since the show was announced and came across as inventive as when he initially landed on these shores over twenty years ago.

For additional information on David Gray, visit DavidGray.com.

Upcoming concert highlights at Huntington Bank Pavilion At Northerly Island include Burna Boy (Jul. 23); $UICIDEBOY$ (Aug. 2); Goo Goo Dolls (Aug. 4); Brandi Carlile (Aug. 6); LANY (Aug. 7); Maren Morris (Aug. 10); Alicia Keys (Aug. 23); Florence + The Machine (Sept. 7); Odesza (Sept. 9-10); Deadmau5 (Sept. 23); Lamb Of God (Sept. 24); Conan Gray (Sept. 28); New Order and Pet Shop Boys (Sept. 30) and The Head And The Heart (Oct. 1). For additional details, visit LiveNation.com.

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A daring David Gray climbs the entire “White Ladder,” mounds more on Northerly Island

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