Live Review: Jose Gonzalez +el Perro Del Mar @ Concorde 2, Feb 06
Published 1st Mar 2006 by Catherine Watkinson

Born in Sweden to Argentinean parents, Gothenburg based Jose Gonzalez graced Brighton?s wind swept Madeira Drive on a February Sunday evening. Jose has been classically trained on guitar, combining this with an undertone of Flamenco his song writing echoes that of Nick Drake and to a lesser degree Simon and Garfunkel. Best known in the UK for contributing the transfixing Heartbeats, Jose?s now top 10 single, to the Sony advert in which around a quarter of a million coloured bouncy balls are launched down the hilled streets of San Francisco. Sony, rather then picking from their own vast catalogue of music, which for a company like Sony you?d think would be the obvious thing to do, instead gave up this vital advertising opportunity to Jose, a testament to the potency of his music.

Sunday?s show started with accomplished support act El Perro Del Mar who set the mood nicely. Then after a short interval Jose entered the stage, to rapturous applause. Jose exudes a quiet confidence and says very little throughout the set, but what he does say is deeply genuine and met with warmth by the crowd. The songs followed nearly back to back with intros overlaying applause still thundering from the previous song. Jose?s music consists for the most part of one guitar and his beautiful, unassuming vocals, accompanied at times with two percussionists/ backing vocalists.

Despite the relaxed, stripped down format of this performance the crowd remained completely encapsulated and utterly silent throughout each song, which for a venue such as the Concorde packed with several hundred people is virtually unheard of. Without having seen him alone on stage (which in the Concorde is always a possibility if you are not tall!) it would be quite understandable to assume there were two guitarists, with Jose emulating bass, guitar and in several songs percussion all with a single instrument.

An obvious favourite was Heartbeats, but surprisingly his dark and driving cover of Massive Attack?s Teardrop was most appreciated by the audience. Other highlights were Crosses, Lovestain, Hints and a cover of Kylie?s Put Your Hands on your Heart, brilliantly pulling off a song that could not be more stylistically different from his own.


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