A year after a fraught night at the 3Arena left him feeling exposed, the singer talks about grief, writing music and why birdwatching in his rural retreat won’t slow him down
David Gray: ‘I guess I guard against contentment a little bit, but I’ve found a balance in my life’. Photo: Robin Grierson
David Gray has something that he would like to clear up. There had been a “febrile” atmosphere at the first of the musician’s two sold-out nights at Dublin’s 3Arena last year; “a kind of angsty, aggy feeling”, as he recalls.
He was visibly irritated at the non-stop chatter and the continual stream of punters going to and from the bar and, as a result, his second gig a few weeks later saw the bars being closed during his set.