Singer/songwriter Damian Wilson recently released a compilation album entitled “I Thought The World Was Listening 1997-2011”. This retrospective spans two CDs and features remastered tracks from throughout Wilson’s solo career, re-recorded versions and previously unreleased material. As lead singer for bands such as Threshold, Headspace and Landmarq, he has established himself as a household name in the progressive rock and metal world and has been quoted by the late Ronnie James Dio as “a man with one of the most versatile voices in rock and an incredible range”. In support of this new release, Wilson planned an acoustic solo tour that a.o. brought him to record store Top Disc in Torhout, where many fans turned up to witness his (free) performance.

During nearly two hours he performed songs from his whole career, telling background stories in between, which were both funny and entertaining. So we learn that Damian once was a busker in the London tube and even auditioned for Iron Maiden when Bruce Dickinson left in 1993 (eventually Blaze Bayley got the gig). His unique voice and superb acoustic guitar playing radiate passion and craftsmanship, which easily held us under his spell the whole time. At times it was so quiet he wondered if we could understand him, which of course we did. Currently a frontman for the Maiden UniteD project he couldn’t deny us a song from the British icons. However, his acoustic version of ‘The Evil That Men Do’ was surprising and brilliant at the same time. Finally he let us sing-a-long to ‘Homegrown’ which ended his set.

Afterwards, Damian took time to greet and meet the fans and you could see he truly enjoyed this part as well. “In England I played the role of Jean Valjean in the successful musical ‘Les Misérables’. Every show was a sell-out, but I had hardly any contact with my colleagues. Let alone with the audience. I spent most of the time alone in my hotel and I hated it.” Although it’s not easy to survive as a musician these days, Wilson once more proved he’s far too talented to end his career with a day job. Hopefully we may see and hear a lot more of him in the future to come.