Thomas Dolby at Canal Room (Pics & Video)

Friday night I went down to the Canal Room to catch Thomas Dolby. You know... the "Blinded Me With Science" guy. You see I really dig Thomas Dolby and not in the ironic hipster way. The man is a damn good musician and writes some killer songs. I've actually been meaning to write something on BSC about him for a while now. He gets no fucking respect and it's bullshit. The 80's are all of a sudden "cool" now but yet Dolby seems to be overlooked.

Well anyway, this is about the show not the man's career. We got to Canal Room at the perfect time - he didn't start yet but I still had time to piss. While I was in the can I heard cheering so I hurried things along and ran back upstairs. I pushed my way through the crowd and got a spot right o the side of the stage. It wasn't the best place for sound but it was great for sight.

Dolby was on stage in a long trenchcoat. His head was completely shaved and he was wearing a combination headset, mic, and camera. It was quite a good look... if you're a cyborg from the future. Then again his most famous song is about science so I guess this is exactly what should have been expected.

I have to say I was a bit disappointed with the song selection. He managed to play most of the songs I wasn't super familiar with. However, I may have been the only one there who felt that way. The crowd was going crazy the whole time. They sang along to every song but you could see they were having a little trouble remembering some of the words - it's been awhile. In fact we were, without question, the youngest people there.

During the set Dolby had a screen behind him playing random clips as well as old Dolby videos. Occasionally they would show the feed from the camera on his head. It was pretty cool watching him play from his own perspective. I was also impressed that he was doing everything on his own. There was quite a bit going on for one person to handle - keys, synths, samplers, drum machines, etc.

I had a great time at this show and the fact he closed the set with "Science" was pretty cool. It's not at all like his other songs so I thought he might hate playing it and therefore not include it in the set. It was pretty damn cool hearing one of the classic songs from the 80's live. After "Science" he walked off stage into the crowd and stood there for about 4 minutes while the crowd screamed for an encore. It was a bit odd since he was just standing there - it wasn't like he was backstage, everyone could see him waiting to go back up.

After a few minutes of cheers he went back up for one more. Unfortunately I can't remember what song it was but I do remember singing along. After that he wrapped it up and took off. He mentioned that he might be playing NYC again in November. I recommend you go check him out - if you're into that sort of thing.

Thomas Dolby

Link:
Full Set On BSC Flickr

"Blinded Me With Science" LIVE