Review: David Gray in Cambridge

The successful singer/songwriter played to an enthusiastic Corn Exchange audience on Saturday, March 16.

Coming out around 8.45pm, Gray announced that he would begin by playing new material, a statement that was met with an appreciative cheer from his many fans in the room.

The 50-year-old has been a major name in popular music for more than 20 years now and his latest album, Gold in a Brass Age, only came out last week.

It was understandable, therefore, that he wanted to include some of its tracks in the set.

Standing at the side of the stage to the right (when facing), rather than in the middle, he said: "This is a song about stepping off into the unknown." The song in question was Mallory, track 10 on the new LP.

It was a pretty good song, as were much of those that followed - especially Hurricane Season - and the talented musician effortlessly switched between piano and acoustic guitar throughout, sometimes mid-song.

He also performed a couple of songs alone at the piano.

Interesting lighting and background images illuminated the music and the singer sounded in very fine voice.

He acknowledged the crowd for their "warm applause" for the new songs, saying after nearly an hour: "We've just got a couple more, then we're going to dig deep into the catalogue."

Unearthing some well-known chart hits - Babylon, Sail Away - and some album tracks from the vaults (Kathleen was a highlight), Gray certainly succeeded in keeping the audience entertained.