David played at the Gothic, a beautifully restored movie palace with a capacity of about 800. He opened for the Czars, who were releasing their new "The Beautiful vs. The Ugly People'' record. I was a little disappointed in my fellow Denverites because despite a good deal of buzz and pre-show publicity, I'd estimate it topped out at 450 or 500 people.

He played 10 songs with Daniel McMahon, and as he told me it would in advance, it sounded a bit like "16 Horsepower Unplugged'' . He played for only about 40 minutes. Of the 10 songs he played, two were 16 Horsepower songs -- "Black Soul Choir'' and "Strawfoot.''

Vocally, David sounded exactly like you would expect him to sound. I actually enjoyed the pared-down sound because it put the emphasis on the words. I could understand them live much better than I can at a 16hp show. Musically, McMahon played a kind of goth church organ at the start, which made for a dark element, but not really all that pronounced.

The highlight for me was when they both played strings together. I don't know all of the specific types of the antique stringed instruments they play, but it was sort of a mandolin duet sound. The crowd reacted very positively, but as you would expect, it inevitably lacked to rocking power of a full 16hp show.

by John M.

Good stuff from David. VERY mellow compared to 16hp. More like intimate coffeehouse music than the big 16hp approach. No drums, no bandoneon, no banjo. Just David playing straight acoustic and classical-style guitars, some mandolin, and that odd mandolin/banjo-cross instrument he was playing in the Loladamusica video. My friend agreed with me that the songs were very good, but he prefers (as do I) the "bigger" sound 16hp gets. In other words, David's slower, droning guitar style seems to work better with the added dynamics the other instruments provide in 16hp.

Daniel McMahon seems to be a good musician. He played mandolin, classical guitar, and an old foot-pump organ, which sounded absolutely phenomenal. He also had a small Casio keyboard sitting on top of the organ. Again, no drums - just a preprogrammed footpedal drum machine that David worked in conjunction with a volume pedal.

Random thought: All new songs, except, again, for a slow "coffeehouse" version of Black Soul Choir played on the banjo/mandolin instrument, and Straw Foot (on the same instrument) as the last song.

As for the Czars, they sounded better than I'd heard them before. Very full sounding. Elin Palmer, who accompanied 16 Horsepower on their Secret South tour, was onstage with them full time, playing acoustic guitar and violin.

by Thomas M.