By Chris Varias
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Dave prefers a fiddler. David likes his sampler. The specific sounds each guy uses to flesh out his vaguely bittersweet singer-songwriter tales are extremely different, but David Gray and his record-label boss Dave Matthews are basically working the same mojo.

Gray, the English singer who scored an unexpected smash hit with the 1999 album White Ladder, played Riverbend Friday night. And although the pavilion-only crowd wasn't Dave-sized, Gray put on a show dynamic enough to match one of Matthews' annual summer extravaganzas.

The hour-and-45-minute performance included several songs from White Ladder and Gray's newest album, A New Day at Midnight, as well as pre-White Ladder material the crowd seemed to have brought itself up to speed on and a timely cover song that proved to be the highlight of the set.

While Matthews approaches songs with a jazzy-jam politeness, Gray's folkie leanings are awash in timid, public-radio-worthy dance-music mechanics. Gray's music wouldn't go over well in a dance club, but he certainly has more of a beat than the average singer-songwriter.

Between Gray's sampler and his drummer, there was more jungle and breakbeat put forth on Friday than perhaps at any other time in the history of Riverbend. Dave obviously hears something in David's disco beats, as Matthews debuted his ATO Records imprint with White Ladder.

Gray's singer-songwriter style best meshed with his dance-party experimentation during "Please Forgive Me," the final song of the encore. Gray, backed by his four-man band, played baby-grand piano on the song before forsaking the keys for the sampler atop the piano lid and sending the song into a new swirling dimension.

That song was one of many favorites from White Ladder, including "Babylon," "My Oh My," "Silver Lining," "Sail Away" and the title track.

Gray dedicated a version of Randy Newman's "Baltimore" to the singer who helped make it semi-famous, the late Nina Simone. It's a credit to Gray that he made it sound like his own, thanks to an arrangement fueled by his trademark punchy rhythm.

It was the best song of the night thanks to Newman's sharp lyrics, and it was the only tune that came out and said something straight.

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E-mail cvarias@enquirer.com