Live Review

Thomas Dybdahl – Bush Hall

• 18th Mar 2014

Thomas Dybdahl might not be that well recognized here in the UK, but his fans came out in abundance for his headline show in Bush Hall, Shepherd’s Bush. He and his band took to the stage, wearing suits and smiles, and paraded through tracks from the artist’s catalogue of 6 albums 90 (4 of which went to number one in his native Norway).

His interaction with the crowd was somewhere in between quirky and familiarity, talking to the entire audience like they were old friends. His swooning songs made the show tighter, more compact, and more intimate all at the same time.

Tracks littering the setlist included ‘World Is My Oyster’ and ‘Pale Green Eyes’, with highlights coming from the stellar ‘One Day You’ll Dance For Me New York’, a song written about the romance the writer shared with the city. New tracks such as ‘But We Did’, ‘Man On wire’ and ‘This Love Is Here to Stay’ also shined in the live setting, the latter coming from the House Of Lies Soundtrack.

The crowd swayed and sang as if on queue, and Thomas loved them all the more for it – indeed, he told them this repeatedly over the course of the night. The man, and the rest of the band, seemed only delighted to be there, and this was shown in their performance.

The set finished with the upbeat ‘Party Like it’s 1929’, which had the entire band on their feet and the entire crowd dancing. It was a perfect ending to a pretty perfect evening. The man of the hour left the stage gleaming – just as the fans did when they left the venue. While not as well recognized as he should be, Thomas Dybdahl can take solace in knowing that he will be there with the best of them sooner than you think.

Venue: Bush Hall
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