Review/Photos: Dhani Harrison @ Knitting Factory

Words & Photos by Marco Denzer

After many years of collaborating in various projects and scoring music for numerous films and television programs, Dhani Harrison has finally released In Parallel, his first full length solo work.

The album is a poignant collection of songs that poetically depict a landscape of meditative dreams intertwined with layers of well-orchestrated voices, acoustic string instruments, percussion, and electronica. It is lyrically and sonically striking without being overwhelming, monotonous, or jaded. On the contrary, the material unfolds in a manner that creates distinctive progression and clearly defines one song from the other. Harrison’s prowess in writing, composing, and arranging has produced a record with the uncanny ability to sound better and better with each playback.

Dhani has embarked on a brief tour across the US in order to promote In Parallel, and he started the journey with a phenomenal sold out show at the Knitting Factory in Brooklyn, NY. The extraordinarily talented and multi-instrumentalist Harrison (guitar, keyboard, sound pads, and vocals), backed by a very dynamic and tight quartet that included drums, bass, keyboards, and guitar, took the exceptional material from the album and masterfully stripped away its cinematic essence without losing the heart and soul of the songs. As a matter of fact, the live arrangements injected a delightful dose of distortion, overdrive, and metal edge to the repertoire that immediately captivated the audience. The harder edge of the live sound and show is fascinating and hard to resist, it is raw and full of life.

Positioned at center stage, keyboard and sound pads at his side and guitar in hand, Harrison guided his band through the night’s performance like a lively orchestra conductor. They worked in perfect unison, with a noticeable sense of looseness and comfort that closely resembled improvisational jazz musicians, to deliver a set consisting in great part of titles selected from In Parallel, but also including songs from “You Are Here” and “The Fear Of Missing Out” by “thenewn2” and the “Seattle Road” soundtrack.

Harrison appeared relaxed and in command of the mood and spirit of the performance, with interjections of kindness, gratitude, and good humor when addressing the audience between songs. He expressed happiness upon inviting musicians Mereki and Camila Grey to the stage to sing with him on “Poseidon” and “All About Waiting” respectively. “It’s not often that one has the friends that actually sang the tracks in the studio available to sing them live on stage”, he added. The show closed with members of the supporting band Summer Moon jamming together with Dhani and his band on the song “I Wanna Be Your Dog”.

The highly recommended shows will continue through November 30th with scheduled stops in Washington State, Oregon, and California. Do not miss it.

Setlist:

Summertime Police
My Eye
#WarOnFalse
So Vain
Úlfur Resurrection
Poseidon (Keep Me Safe)
Downtown Tigers
The Sharp Knife
Make It Home
Yomp

Encore:
Admiral of Upside Down
All About Waiting
I Wanna Be Your Dog

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