  
Tonight's show was something a bit differnt for me, an Israeli musician who sings in Hebrew. He's a well known star in Israel who has worked with both Israeli and Palestinian musicians and is an advocate for peace.
Security inside and outside the venue was the tightest I've seen at a show of this size with smartly dressed security keeping a close eye on all the approaches to the venue - I suppose it's sad reflection on the world today that a high profile Israeli musician needs such security.
The Union chapel may still be a church but it's also a venue that hosts some fantastic concerts and is a beautiful setting with great acoustics, so is a nice choice for tonight's show.
Billed as David Broza and friends, the show starts with him performing solo for the first few songs. Sitting on a stool playing acoustic guitar and singing he explains before each song what the next song is about, which is a nice touch since not everyone in the audience speaks Hebrew. He spent a lot of time in Spain and that really shows in his guitar playing, and some of the songs were actually written in Spanish and translated to Hebrew.
After the first few songs he was joined by a percussionist, a guitarist and a bassist and then later by a flautist. It's an absolutely superb show - normally a two hour concert based around acoustic guitars would feel quite dull and repetitive but with David Broza that's certainly not the case. His playing is great and he's a very good singer, but it's the songs that are key, and they really are fantastic. Normally you're able to listen to the lyrics and they add more to the enjoyment of the song, but when you're stripped of the ability to understand what he's singing then you just have to focus on the music and the vocal melodies and even with that limitation I was still hooked.
Tonight's show was a fantastic night - something completely different to what I normally listen to but David Broza is such a talented musician that I'd certainly recommend people check him out on Youtube and when he next plays the UK, take the opportunity to go and see him perform live. |
