Gig Review: Tim Schou at The Garage, London

Last week I was in London to see Danish singer-songwriter Tim Schou’s showcase upstairs at The Garage, Highbury. The performance on Wednesday night was Tim’s first solo UK show since his band A Friend In London split early last year.

After a quiet few months of songwriting and other projects following the band’s split, Tim is now back in force. He’s out to take the world by storm, armed only with a backing band and crew, a guitar, a repertoire of brand-new songs, and a dream.

 The evening was off to a strong start with support act Ricky Dean Howard. An engaging, down-to-earth singer-songwriter, Ricky’s performance set the stage for Tim. His songs were funny and honest, performed acoustic with only a guitar. Ricky’s music and performance style were very similar to that of Ed Sheeran, which was added to when he covered Thinking Out Loud. It was just a shame that people weren’t paying Ricky their full attention and were standing at the back talking loudly. That was disruptive and, quite frankly, rude. 

However, luckily that didn’t manage to spoil the evening.

Most of the songs performed on Wednesday were Tim’s brand-new songs. Previously unheard material was played live for the first time, not that you’d have guessed from the quality of the performance. Tim gave a high-energy, dynamic performance from beginning to end, feeding off the energy supplied by his band.

The show featured a great variety of songs, with a well-thought-out order for the setlist. The slower songs were followed by more upbeat songs that got the audience dancing and singing along.

Similarly, it was nice to have a mix between the full band songs and sections with just Tim and his guitar. The balance between these two parts of the show was done well, mixing up the styles to keep the performance fresh and involving. The sections with just Tim on his own were far more intimate with an acoustic feel, perfect for the slower songs like his latest single Goodbye. However, the full band parts were also good in a completely different way, for example, the upbeat performance of Supernova. The two sections combined perfectly to create the overall atmosphere and tone of the show. Aside from the music, Tim has a great stage personality. He knows how to play up to the crowd, he’s funny, and he interacts with his fans. But most of all, he’s a genuinely nice guy, and you can’t help but admire his determination to make his career succeed.

The most memorable part of the night was the encore. Tim came back onto the stage after the applause and started by playing a (rough) few lines of Sia’s Chandelier. This was quickly followed, to the audience’s appreciation, by a rendition of A Friend In London’s biggest hit. New Tomorrow was the song the band performed for Denmark in Eurovision 2011, placing them 5^th in the contest. Clearly a fan favourite (Tim even crowd-surfed during the song!) New Tomorrow was the perfect end to a brilliant show.

"I hope this show will be the first of many in the UK,” said Tim on Wednesday night.

I hope so too, Tim.

Are you a fan of Tim Schou? Let me know in the comments below!