Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott, Wolverhampton Civic Hall - review
'I feel like I've got as much from you as I've given,' Paul Heaton told his adoring crowd at Wolverhampton Civic Hall last night and he wasn't wrong.
Right from the front row to the back of the hall and all those seated above, there was not a single person who wasn't dancing and singing along as he and Jacqui Abbott belted out great song after great song.
Whether you knew them or not - and to be fair there were a couple off their latest album that I wasn't familiar with - the hooks were so catchy and the sound so clear that by the end of the tune it felt like another old favourite had just been played.
From the moment they stepped onto the stage, Paul in his trademark glasses and mac, and Jacqui had the audience in the palm of their hands.
They started with a new song, The Lord is a White Con, a soaring song that pulled everyone in and by the time they got to their third song, Five Get Over Excited, the audience were indeed having a barrel-load of fun, fun, fun,
Paul made reference to the average age of the audience, saying his record company bosses had told him the reason the latest album Crooked Calypso peaked at number 2, beaten by Lana Del Rey, was because the fans, only just getting used to the idea of CDs had become baffled by the concept of 'streaming'.
With that he went back to the days when people used to get music by buying it from a record shop with Rotterdam, one of a whole host of Beautiful South and Housemartins hits sprinkled through the set that were like old friends turning up on a night out.
As good as the newer songs are, it was these that really buoyed the crowd,
Sheep came early on, later followed by Old Red Eyes is Back, Perfect 10, Don't Marry Her, Carry on Regardless all thrown in for good measure.
Forget streaming and even CDs for that matter, these songs heard live all have a sing-along simplicity that transported the crowd back to simpler days of their younger years.
Paul and Jacqui finished on a high with You Keep It All In; but the crowd weren't happy with that and demanded they return.
After one encore, including a rousing rendition of the ever-popular Happy Hour, it was back again for Song for Whoever and a beautiful rendition of Caravan of Love to round off the night perfectly.
The crowd were clearly all aboard that caravan from the outset and some of the more rowdy sections, clearly having taken advantage of Happy Hours elsewhere earlier in the evening, will be waking up today and looking in the mirror thinking, Old Red Eyes in certainly Back.
