David Gray played a sold out show Thursday night to a predominantly well-to-do adult crowd at the Tsongas Arena in Lowell. Despite the heavy traffic in downtown Lowell, the place was nearly packed by the time the lights went out at 8:40 p.m. Intense, unexpected techno music came over the PA. After a minute, it stopped abruptly with the simultaneous onset of a spotlight on Gray alone at a baby grand piano. Gray opened with "The Other Side," melodically crooning until the lavish red velvet curtain behind him whisked open, revealing his backup band. On this particular number they played lead and rhythm guitar, bass and drums; however, for most of the songs Gray was on acoustic guitar, and the rhythm guitarist for "The Other Side" played the keys and synth.

The show itself was nothing spectacular. The light show was mediocre at best. Most of the songs just blended together in a pleasantly sleepy way. Ever once and a while, fortunately, there were some moments that differentiated the songs, making them stand out. "Dead In The Water" had a sound reminiscent of Dave Matthew's Band's "Space Between," and the pedal echo effect towards the end was certainly noteworthy. "We're Not Right" was a pleasant surprise as the quintet rocked out.

The synthesizer and drums provided much of the energy for this number. "Be Mine" took the radio-friendly, pop love song genre to a new level, certainly giving the fans what they were looking for.

If you've heard Gray sing on the radio, it's no different than hearing him live. His lyrics are predictable and clich, but he did sing some mildly thought provoking and romantic nature imagery with lines like, "You could be my olive branch," and "Gonna go where the wind can shine."

Gray is quite a character on stage, especially during the breaks between the songs. Throughout the show he kept addressing us as "Massachusetts" (and one time as "Boston stroke Massachusetts"). It became evident that he didn't even know where Lowell was, and by the end of the show he admitted it.

Throughout the night, the audience was able to enjoy some other noteworthy and amusing exclamations from the mind of David Gray, comments like "I think it might catch on in rock n' roll, telling the crowd what to do with their arms," and, "I'm drinking the blood of Justin Timberlake." The audience got a kick out of being called "you crazy Massachusetts frostbitten werewolves," and Gray commented later that "George Bush is a twat" (rhyming it with cat, silly Brit).

The penultimate song of his 16-song set was "Silver Lining," in which the keyboardist played a beautiful piano solo while four pinwheel-shaped light designs spun before the audience in the back of the arena. The set closer was obvious and much appreciated. As with most radio hits I've seen live, David Gray raised the energy on "Babylon" as the entire crowd was on its feet dancing. Following its conclusion, the crowd gave the band a standing ovation as it left the stage.

Gray returned alone, starting a five-song encore. The first three were slow, soft melodies, which most people in the audience could have taken or left. The last two included the band's guitarist on lap steel guitar. The addition was a positive one as he chimed in with sweet, swaying notes to complement Gray's acoustic rhythming.

The final number of the first encore included their eccentric drummer, in a new Hawaiian shirt even bolder than his previous one, harmonizing with his high-pitched but palatable singing. He was quite a character, with his Perry Ferrell looks, Quasi Modo posture at the drum set and neon yellow drumsticks. Any time I got tired of the music I could always look at his antics for some amusement.

The entire band came out for a second encore. For me, this was the best part of the show. "Sail Away" was a long flowing melody that had what seemed to be a little bit of musical exploration. The funniest part of the show was when Gray was egging the crowd on to sing along, and then he forgot the words. The final song, "Please Forgive Me," was not as you'd think from its title. Gray et al. put whatever they had left into this song. Everyone was dancing and smiling as Gray put a high-energy cap on a night that consisted mostly of lows. For the hardcore fans, I'm sure it was all that they could have hoped for and more, but to the average, unbiased music fan, I would not suggest spending $40 to see this live act.