Categories Album Mission Creep Music Review UK Tour 2024

A Rocking Good Night With Damian Lewis

Damian Cracks At It

by Jacquee Storozynski-Toll | Southend Theatre Scene | March 12, 2024

Who knew that Damian Lewis could sing? The actor best known for his work on Wolf Hall and Homeland amongst others can really rock it with the best of them. He also plays a mean acoustic guitar. Apparently, before he was famous he busked around Europe with a rucksack and a tent, so has had plenty of experience. This time he is on the second part of a tour to advertise his debut album Mission Creep.

However, before he arrived Amelie, a young singer songwriter, treated us to a set. She demonstrated her talents singing, playing the guitar and keyboards. One song The Night We Called it a Day was co-written with Guy Chambers who co-wrote many Robbie Williams songs. She announced that she would be having an EP album out later in the year.

Good as she was, it was Damian that the audience had come to see. He zoomed on to the stage, looking very different to his slick screen image, dancing around the stage in jeans and a waistcoat, clutching his guitar and being every inch a rocker. He then launched into a soulful rendition of the first song on the album Down on the Bowery, following this with a bluesy number Soho Tango.

Backed by a four-piece band and accompanied by Amelie, he went through most of the songs on the album. They covered various genres. Some were Rockabilly, some jazzy and bluesy and we were even treated to a Chuck Berry duck walk. As one song ended, another started his voice adapting to smooth ballads, growly rocks, and high-pitched blues, to cover every style that his skills as an actor could bring to the song. Wanna Grow Old In Paris, had a haunting quality, My Little One with the bluesy harmonica, was in the style of Dr. Feelgood, then there was the beautiful She Comes. This was apparently written as a tribute to his late wife Helen McCrory, but he just called it a song about a ghost.

Continue reading A Rocking Good Night With Damian Lewis

Categories Album Mission Creep Music Review UK Tour 2024

Damian Lewis Makes a Welcome Return to Sussex

“An absolute belting set of variety, strong songwriting and class musicianship, and a sea of grinning faces”

by Adrian Stonley | Brighton and Hove News | March 11, 2024

Photo Cred: Adrian Stonley

DAMIAN LEWIS – TRADING BOUNDARIES, SHEFFIELD GREEN 8.3.24

With Brighton & Hove News having reviewed Damian Lewis in Hove, back in November 2023 (Review HERE) on the first leg of his tour to support the release of his first album, ‘Mission Creep’, it was interesting to see how he fared back in the live environment a few months further down the line and at the beginning of the second leg of his tour. Would it be more of the same or would we get any variation in the songs?

The answer to that was a clear…Yes, there would be variety, and in many ways this was almost a different show entirely.

However, before we get into the set changes it is clear that this is a second stage of the ‘Mission Creep’ album tour and unsurprisingly, with this album being the only one currently available for the fans to listen to, it still held sway with ten of the thirteen album tracks being played tonight.

Continue reading Damian Lewis Makes a Welcome Return to Sussex

Categories Album Mission Creep Music Review UK Tour 2024

Review: Damian Lewis and Amelie at Trading Boundaries

“There is definitely an open door to go full time as a music star.”

by Steve Best | Music Republic Magazine | March 8, 2024

Photo Cred: Liam Battersby

Psssst….Wanna know a ‘secret?’ There’s a big movie and TV star plotted up in a rural gaff in East Sussex, and circa 190 folk are invited for dinner and drinks.

It’s not a film set or a private showbiz bash – but this venue is lovely enough to be used for one – and as live music venues go, it’s on the more unusual side and perfect for an intimate first date of a UK tour. As “up close and personal” as you can get to…

Screen star and musician Damian Lewis, who is back on the road with his band after Part 1 of their “Mission Creep” tour late last year – and they delivered a very classy set on Friday to a sold out Trading Boundaries venue as first stop on their eight-date trek.

Continue reading Review: Damian Lewis and Amelie at Trading Boundaries

Categories Album Mission Creep Music Print Media Review UK Tour 2023

We Get Musical With Damian Lewis

The Glasshouse International Centre for Music

by Peter Newman-Mann | NE Online Magazine, Issue #65 | October 3, 2023

Sage 2 in Gateshead now called The Glasshouse, International Centre for Music

It’s been a long and interesting journey for the now 50-something, London born actor/musician, Damian Lewis, both trades in which he now enjoys to the full, having come to him early in life.

Although his acting, as a career, began fully when Damian was in his early 20’s, during the early-mid 1990s, he’s gone on to enjoy roles in film, television and on stage, and with some iconic parts to match.

Continue reading We Get Musical With Damian Lewis

Categories Album Mission Creep Music Print Media Review UK Tour 2023

‘Homeland’ Star Damian Lewis Performs Sold Out Concert in Hove

The Old Market – Brighton/Hove

by Nick Linazasoro | Brighton and Hove News | October 1, 2023

*DISCLAIMER: We received this message, “Hiya, We at Brighton & Hove News have reviewed Damian’s Old Market show, enjoy and share 🙂 ” So we’re sharing it with their permission! All photos by Cris Watkins

Photo by Cris Watkins

DAMIAN LEWIS + KITTY LIV – THE OLD MARKET, HOVE 29.9.23

When you get the opportunity to see United States Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant Nicholas Brody in the flesh you certainly don’t turn it down! ‘Homeland’ fans will know exactly what I’m talking about.

Continue reading ‘Homeland’ Star Damian Lewis Performs Sold Out Concert in Hove

Categories Album Mission Creep Down on the Bowery Makin' Plans Music Print Media Review She Comes UK Tour 2023 Zaragoza

Damian Lewis/Kitty Liv: Town Hall, Birmingham – Live Review

“The Right Amount of Groove”

by Daniel Perry | Music Republic Magazine | September 22, 2023

Birmingham concert audiences have been spoiled for choice lately for TV and film stars popping in to the city with their music side hustle.

Movie legend Johnny Depp in July this year at the Utilita Arena with The Hollywood Vampires, Keifer Sutherland at the 02 Institute and now, British film and TV star Damian Lewis and his band at the Town Hall for the second show on his 11-date tour, which opened in Nottingham the previous weekend.

Continue reading Damian Lewis/Kitty Liv: Town Hall, Birmingham – Live Review

Categories Album Mission Creep Down on the Bowery Makin' Plans Music Print Media Review She Comes UK Tour 2023 Zaragoza

Damian Lewis: Town Hall, Birmingham – Live Review

Swapping Billions for Ballads

by Sam Lambeth | Louder Than War | September 15, 2023

Damian Lewis bounds onstage with the aura of a rockstar – lithe, agile and sartorially accurate (all black, desert boots, nifty waistcoat). “When I was last in Birmingham, the Birmingham Post gave me a scathing review,” he laughs. “I’m hoping tonight’s reviews will be kinder.”

He does have cause for trepidation, don’t forget. Actors venturing into music have often found themselves hitting a dead end, with even the most casual music fan ready to pour scorn. Thankfully, Lewis’ debut album sees him enter the Hugh Laurie category, as opposed to the dark and musty files of Russell Crowe.

Continue reading Damian Lewis: Town Hall, Birmingham – Live Review

Categories Billions Print Media Recap Review

Billions Season 7 Premiere Recap: Axe is Back

A Certain Redheaded Maniac Returns

by Sean T. Collins | New York Times | August 11, 2023

Season 7, Episode 1: ‘Tower of London’

He’s back.

Bobby Axelrod, the hard-charging, take-no-prisoners billionaire who served as the antagonist-cum-co-protagonist for the first five seasons of “Billions,” returns at the end of the show’s seventh and final season premiere. Like a demon out of an esoteric’s grimoire, Axe (Damian Lewis) has been summoned by three of his closest associates — Wendy (Maggie Siff), Wags (David Costabile) and Taylor (Asia Kate Dillon) — to rise from legally mandated oblivion in order to defeat a devil far worse than the devil we know.

Continue reading Billions Season 7 Premiere Recap: Axe is Back

Categories Billions Print Media Recap Review

Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Billions’ Season 7 on Showtime

The Final Run For the Drama About Financial Elites and
Those That Operate Against Them

by Johnny Loftus | Decider | August 11, 2023

The trading floor is almost closed for Billions, which returns to Showtime for its seventh and final season. (The series will stream Fridays on Paramount+ and Showtime before dropping broadcast episodes on Sunday evenings.) Will Americans say “I Like Mike” in 2028? Can Michael Thomas Aquinas Prince even move up his timeline for the presidency by channeling his particular deca-billionaire mojo?

What kind of juice does Chuck Rhoades retain, and is it enough to stop Prince? Or does this evolving war require its dark horse? That’s right, the biggest get for Billions’ final bow is the return of Damian Lewis as Robert “Bobby” Axelrod, which as season 7 begins will involve some detective work from Maggie Siff as Wendy Rhoades.

Continue reading Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Billions’ Season 7 on Showtime

Categories Billions Print Media Recap Review

Billions: How Damian Lewis’ Bobby ‘Axe’ Axelrod Returns in Season 7 Premiere

Tower of London Season 7 Episode 1

by Isaac Rouse | TV Insider | August 11, 2023

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for the Billions Season 7 premiere “Tower of London.”]

The road to the end of Billions has begun with the start of its seventh and final season, which brings Damian Lewis back as Bobby “Axe” Axelrod for one last showdown.

Axe did not give up his business empire easily. At the end of Season 5 of Showtime’s Wall Street thriller, a two-pronged attack drove him from New York City to Switzerland, turning him from a swaggering master of the universe into a financial fugitive. New York State Attorney General Chuck Rhoades (Paul Giamatti) falsely accused him of money-laundering charges. Meanwhile, his billionaire nemesis, Michael Prince (Corey Stoll), took advantage of the situation to acquire Axelrod’s assets below price. However, despite the setbacks, Axe has made a strong comeback with his charismatic and cutthroat demeanor still intact as he reenters the ring.

Continue reading Billions: How Damian Lewis’ Bobby ‘Axe’ Axelrod Returns in Season 7 Premiere

Categories Billions Print Media Review

Billions Season 7: Leaps of Financial Fantasy Saved by a Superb Cast

Superlative Acting

by Robin Wigglesworth | Financial Times | August 11, 2023

★★★☆☆

It’s hard to say exactly where Billions — the TV series about an increasingly fictional hedge fund manager, his legal nemesis and the spreading chaos left by their feud — went a little off the rails.

It might have been when the brilliant but junior analyst Taylor Mason was suddenly promoted to chief investment officer of what is supposed to be one of the world’s biggest hedge funds, only to jump ship and then be bought back. Or perhaps the entire plot line around a serpentine Russian oligarch Grigor Andolov played by John Malkovich. And even in this day and age, the US Treasury secretary doing a bit of gleeful insider trading is a tad implausible.

Continue reading Billions Season 7: Leaps of Financial Fantasy Saved by a Superb Cast

Categories Billions Print Media Review

Billions Offers a Wealth of Entertaining Moments in Final Season

Axelrod’s Back and Prince Eyes the White House

by Richard Roeper | Chicago Sun-Times | August 9, 2023

“Billions” features a total of 11 primary cast members, and it’s a tribute to the deep bench of this financial drama that at least a half-dozen other members have their moments to shine. Based on the six episodes I’ve seen of a 12-chapter final run, it’s evident showrunners Brian Koppelman, David Levien and Andrew Ross Sorkin are poised to close things on a high-stakes note — although there reportedly are plans for a number of spinoffs, including “Millions” and “Trillions.” (I’m in!)

Featuring some of the most impressive production values, needle drops and ensemble acting of any series of the last 10 years, “Billions” has been a signature title in the Showtime arsenal since 2016 — and the complex and intertwining storylines are further boosted in the home stretch with the return of the screen-commanding Damian Lewis as the billionaire hedge fund legend and schemer extraordinaire Bobby Axelrod, who remains in exile overseas but might be poised to get back in the game.

Continue reading Billions Offers a Wealth of Entertaining Moments in Final Season