Marlborough was one of the lucky few to welcome BAFTA, Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actor Damian Lewis to launch his second album Sweet Chaos at St Peter’s Church on Sunday night, courtesy of Sound Knowledge. Dressed in skinny jeans, waistcoat and back to front flat cap, he looked every inch the rock star he’s fast become since the release of his first album Mission Creep in 2023.
But there was nothing showy about Damian’s stripped back acoustic performance accompanied by World Party and Bootleg Beatle bassist David Catlin-Birch. Fresh from playing the Jacaranda in Liverpool the night before and the album’s release on June 5, they walked casually through the excited crowd on to the stage and immediately had everyone captivated. “I presume this is your second time in church for the day!” He quipped and then thanked the packed venue not only for coming out to see him but for buying records, which he gracefully signed after the show for what he called “the signing of the 300”.
This album, the Wolf Hall, Billions and Homeland star has claimed is “a bit angrier in places” than the first. But from the selection he performed on Sunday, there is humour as well as a love song called Question Mark, which he started off with. St Peter’s was the perfect venue for such an intimate track, showcasing his soulful vocals and the pair’s rich harmonies.
Next came a super slick version of the title track and lead single Sweet Chaos and then the most humorous song on the album, Traffic Jam, which he explained is, “About sweet thoughts on a shitty day”. Many of which, as the song progressed, got a lot of laughs from the crowd. It fuses in to David Bowie’s Space Oddity, who Damian has said had a massive influence on him.
There are a few artists who occasionally come to mind listening to Damian, namely Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley, with his booming bass, raw story-telling and bluesy rhythms on the guitars. One of those tracks is No Man’s Land, which was next. It’s one of two duets on the album with his partner The Kills front woman Alison Mosshart, who he’s been with since the death of his wife actress Helen McCrory from breast cancer in 2021.
Introducing the fifth track King, he explained, “I wrote this record over a couple of years. Tricky second album! I started in one studio, where I recorded the first record and then I realised I just wasn’t getting the sound I wanted from that studio so I went to another studio, and had the record produced by a man who’s become my good friend – Guy Chambers – who worked with someone called Robbie Williams. Don’t know if you’ve heard of him! I wrote all the songs on the album, apart from this one.” This too, shows off his guitar skills and has a definite Guy vibe.
A request from Sound Knowledge’s Roger Mortimer was next, a cover of Neil Young’s Harvest Moon, which he’d heard Damian was a fan of. It was a beautiful version and had a few of the crowd dancing.
To finish, he played Pentonville Prison, a track inspired by a hard time he had following a motorcycle accident in north London in 1998. He told the story of it happening and how he was helped by an off-duty male nurse from a local hospital. It’s been such a while in the making that they played it on the last tour two years ago, as a “try-out”. The rapturous applause clearly proved it was worth the wait, and just how grateful Marlborough is to have such big names grace our small market town.
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