Review: David Gray Live @ SunBet Arena in Pretoria

The 20 year wait is over. I finally saw David Gray live at SunBet Arena in Pretoria on Saturday and it was totally worth the wait. What an amazing show.

I can’t remember the exact year when I started listening to David Gray, but it was most likely in 2000 or 2001. I used to crank up his White Ladder album on repeat. 23/24 year old me (who was living in a few flats in Sunnyside, Pretoria at the time) could not stop listening to “Please Forgive Me”, “Babylon”, “My Oh My” and the other tracks on the album. White Ladder is one of the albums that I can sing along to from start to finish and I have my good friends Rob, Jaco and Danie to thank for that. Thanks for introducing me to the music bros 😀

Here are 2 Cents on David Gray Live @ SunBet Arena in Pretoria

I arrived at SunBet Arena around 6 PM and made my way straight to the bar. After a few beers with friends we went into the arena (which is a top notch venue by the way) and grabbed our seats (which wasn’t too far away from the stage).

David Gray started the first half of his set in black suit and performed some tracks from the albums that were released before and after White Ladder. He even played “Shine” (a track that was released on his first album way back in 1993). The first track that got the audience going was his 2005 hit “The One I Love”. Everyone started singing along and came to the realization that there were part of something special.

After a 20 minute interval, David Gray made his way back onto the stage in a white suit and started playing the whole White Ladder album from track 1 to track 10. I was fortunate to snap photos of him while he played 3 of my favourite tracks: “Please Forgive Me”, “Babylon” and “My Oh My”.

There was amazing energy in the SunBet Arena. The crowd sang along to most of the songs and even got up to dance during the title track of the album (“White Ladder”).

After track 10 (“Say Hello And Wave Goodbye”) David Gray shared a story from the year 2000

That was the year that he played Glastonbury Festival (the biggest greenfield festival in the world). He played his set on one of the smaller stages and it was great. Elvis Costello had to cancel his set (which was supposed to be on the Pyramid Stage on the Sunday) and he was offered his slot. In case you did not know, there’s space for about 75,000 people in front of the Pyramid stage, so this was an opportunity of a lifetime.

Gray’s dad watched Glastonbury on the telly (while he was in hospital in Wales receiving chemotraphy). When he found out that his son was playing on the Pyramid Stage, he ripped out the chords and made his way to the festival to watch him. He ended up backstage to support him. And then he spotted David Bowie. Gray’s attempts to keep him away from the legendary rockstar flopped and an initial 5 minute conversation turned into a longer one.

After his second Glastonbury set, Gray and his band were listening to the radio to find out where “Babylon” (which was released as a single in the UK in the same week) was going to be in the UK Top 40. The song made its debut at number 5 and Gray and his band were over the moon.

After telling this story, David Gray played two David Bowie songs back to back and ended off his set with an upbeat version of “Please Forgive Me”. It was amazing.

If you ever have the opportunity to check out Mr. Gray live, you should definitely make the effort. It’will be worth it. I would like to thank Big Concerts for the tickets and the opportunity to tick off another artist box on my photography bucket list.

Watch this space for updates in the Music category on Running Wolf’s Rant.