SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: DAVE ALLEN – LIVE AT THE FIVE & DIME

Dave Allen
Live At The Five & Dime
Independent

Toronto’s Dave Allen came up with When The Demons Come, one of the more sublime debut albums of 2017 and still he seems to be flying under the radar. Trying to rectify the situation and in support of his continuous touring of venues across Canada, here he comes again with Live at the Five & Dime, recorded at a venue of the same name located in Saint John, New Brunswick.

Such a move in itself deserves support, because it shows that Dave has trust in his capabilities and songs, particularly having in mind that the songs he presented on his debut (a number of which are covered here) have quite an intimate and resonant feel, to which live presentation can present some tricky problems.

In that respect, Allen comes through practically unscathed, even though it is just him, his voice and guitar and drummer/percussionist Evan Dwinnell. The whole recording process was quite bold too, using three mikes, one capturing the stage sound, second the room sound and the third capturing the voice and the guitar through the club’s audio system.

No losses there either, because Allen has quite a dominant voice, and above all his songs have enough substance to carry everything through even in a such a minimalist setting. Still, this live album might not get him into the radar scans itself, but if it makes listeners reach for When The Demons Come, it will do Dave the justice he deserves.

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