Dan Croll Show Review by Ben Brondsky
On April 18th I went to the Sinclair in Cambridge and saw the British musician Dan Croll. The Sinclair in Cambridge is a great small venue that maybe holds a couple of hundreds tops. The two things I love about the Sinclair are that the whole first floor has steps that lead up to it and put everyone on the same level and there aren’t any poles obstructing your view. Other clubs in Boston both have those annoying problems. The Sinclair also gets great upcoming bands/artists.
Hailing all the way from Newcastle-under-Lyme, England, Dan Croll is a former student of the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA), which was founded by Paul McCartney. While at LIPA, Croll one won an award that allowed him a personal one-on-one session with Sir McCartney. In Croll’s debut album, Sweet Disarray, the listener will definitely hear hints of the same poppiness and catchy tunes that McCartney himself is famous for. What impressed me about Croll’s debut album was he was able to pull off different sounds with different songs and none of them sounded too trying. On his song “Home” it’s mostly Croll by himself singing with an acoustic guitar but then on “Can You Hear Me?” there’s an almost hip-hop beat behind Croll’s vocals.
Although I enjoyed Croll’s album and the different sounds he pulled off on his album, he pulled it together even better live. Behind Croll there was another guitarist, a bassist, a keyboardist, and a drummer. All of the songs sounded much more fleshed out and more freed. Sometimes on debut albums songs can be kind of mish mashed with different production and people coming and going, but the live the band made each song their own. The songs were more rock-oriented, louder, and enthusiastic. Although there weren’t any guitar solos or crazy shows of musicianship, each member meshed with the others and all were backing Croll’s vocals and storytelling.
The mostly sold out crowd really enjoyed Croll as well. From the start, most of the crowd was dancing to his pop songs and singing the lyrics. When Croll or the keyboardist made small chat with the crowd they always answered and were very appreciative. A group of men by me continuously kept yelling for more songs when Croll said they were finishing soon. There’s something to be said for a group that’s still down to earth and appreciate of their fans all the way across the globe.
My favorite moment was when Croll and co. played his song “Maway” because of the easy to relate lyrics and the great leading bass line. Croll and his band put on a great show and make it seem like an intimate experience. After the show Croll stayed around for a while signing anything and taking pictures with fans. He put on quite an enjoyable show and seems like a great guy. Croll and his band will continue to tour through the U.S. in April and the beginning of May and hit some tours during the summer.
