Rich(ard) Dawson

I know it's incredibly bad form to review an artist by comparing them to another in the very sentence, HOWEVER, Richard is very much in the same ilk as Kieran Leonard (KL supported RD recently, which obviously makes this comparison all okay). Both could be classed as the "enfants terrible" in their field of music - but that would be "très asinine". It's easy to call Richard alt.folk or folk punk, but it doesn't do him justice at all - it's raw, it's loud, it's piss funny, it's like seeing Hendrix perform at Montery Pop (except Hendrix treated his guitar with much more respect), it's touching, it's moving (which semantically is the same as the previous qualifier), it's educational, it's (seemingly) impromptu, it's unique, it's unpretentious and... well, real. You don't have to like an ounce of what you think Richard represents before you see him, but you'll be all over it by the time he's done. It's just a guy singing some songs, sometimes with a guitar, sometimes without a guitar, sometimes just with a guitar and no voice, interspersed with whatever shit's happened that day.

He's not really like anything else. But when you see him, it seems completely normal.

Halifax Minster built in the 12th Century hosted the summer gig,organised by Doghouse, featuring Jim Ghedi in support of the difficult to classify, Richard Dawson and band.

From unaccompanied traditional folk song to autobiographical masterwork, The Vile Stuff, with a healthy helping of his ‘breakthrough’ album, Peasant, Richard gives everything in his performances with the relentless howling of a torrent of lyrics to the plaintive musings of his characters from a 7th Century universe. This three piece drives through the material which has an other worldly vibe with the skills to match the vocals. You don’t ‘get’ Dawson until you have experienced him live, his anecdotes, surreal musings on Al Pacino’s Scent of a Woman and then his music all make for something quite unique.
He’s not an easy listen at first but once engaged you can’t shake him off. Oh and he finished with a blast of Iron Man by Sabbath just for fun. Amazing.

Is he a bird, a plane or a dark foul beast? Richard Dawson can only really be truly appreciated if seen live. His available recordings are ltd but memorable - his performances are indelible. Warm, funny surreal, comic he seems to be a very interesting human being. His music is full on he launches into long lyrically complex ballads, personal emotional exorcisms then there's the guitar. Imagine a cross between Robert Fripp and Richard Thompson and a grisly bear caught in a trap then you get close. Miss him at your peril. If nothing else wait for his surreal ramblings when he's trying to get his breath back and watch out for the Beast of Bamburgh!

First time I have seen Richard play live, he is an incredible man. Half experimental folk, half drunken geordie stand-up, a very fun gig. Vile Stuff the highlight, considering the song is 11 minutes long Dawson manages to smash out all the lyrics without really needing a microphone - admittedly afterwards he looks physically close to death from the exercise. He also has a trademark of progressively losing his clothes throughout the gig which is great for the ladies.

He is a must see x

I just loved this show. Richard is hilarious, incredibly talented, unapologetic and so human.

From welcoming us to the show like a 14th century court minstrel, to singing us what could be 200 year old voice-only laments including The Cruel Ship's Carpenter which was totally mesmerising, all the way through reading amazon album reviews, texting his mum back and into The Vile Stuff.

RIchard is born to be watched live.

Fantastic show in the marvellous acoustics of Halifax Minister. Poor chap put so much into his set that his voice had gone and he was unable to do an encore.