DAVID GRAY, LISA HANNIGAN, Kingsbury Hall, University of Utah, Nov. 2

Blending his acoustic guitar with folk, rock, melodic choruses and even some voice effects, English singer-songwriter David Gray brought a full Kingsbury Hall audience to its feet Monday night.

Wearing an appropriate gray suit, Gray opened with the first three songs off his latest album, "Draw the Line," in order. The upbeat "Fugitive" was followed by the title track and an extended version of "Nemesis" that included an extravagant lighting arrangement.

"The One I Love," off 2005's "Life in Slow Motion," was an upbeat highlight early in the set. Gray later sat at his piano to play the title track off that record. The upbeat songs continued with "You're the World to Me."

Gray and his four backing musicians were tight all evening. Gray's vocals were crisp as he switched between his guitar and piano and jumped right from song to song during most of the evening with an occasional "Thank you, Salt Lake" during his 105 minute set.

For the majority of the show, Gray picked the right mix of old and new songs as well as juggling mellow numbers with moderate-tempo and upbeat tunes. Rarely did the show feel like it was slowing down due to one too many ballads or mid-tempo songs in a row.

Songs off Gray's breakthrough multi-platinum album, 1998's "White Ladder," received some of the biggest applause of the evening. "This Year's Love" and an acoustic "Babylon," Gray's breakthrough U.S. hit, were played back-to-back to the crowd's pleasure. "The Other Side" rounded out the main set.

For the encore, Gray pulled out another "White Ladder" favorite, "Please Forgive Me," and encouraged everyone to stand and clap for the entire song — something he also did during his 2006 Kingsbury show.

Opener Lisa Hannigan, from Ireland, brought her eclectic mix of folksy rock using a wide variety of "old" instruments, including a pump organ. Her set included "I Don't Know" and "Lille." But the highlight of her 40 minute appearance was a unique rendition of Depeche Mode's "Personal Jesus," which started off as an acoustic number and ended as driving as any hard rock song ever performed at Kingsbury.

e-mail: preavy@desnews.com