Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott, The Muni, Colne, 28 October 2015

Paul Heaton must be one of the least spotlight hogging front men in music.  For most of this show in front of a packed crowd at the delightful 'Muni' (Colne's former town hall) he performed with his coat zipped up and with the stage lit in such a way that he was hard to see.  Granted, the lighting display was of the type you'd expect at an arena sized show, but he still managed to stay in the shadows for the bulk of this 100 minute appearance.

Jacqui Abbott is equally unassuming as a front person.  She arrives on stage waving furiously to her audience and taking selfies on her phone, looking for all the world like she's starting a holiday in Magaluf and wants to post pictures of the beach on Facebook.  Throughout the show she waves to fans dancing up in the balcony as though she's spotted a long lost friend.  This is hardly Van Morrison type behaviour.

Their non rock star image is part of Heaton and Abbott's charm of course, but what has drawn the crowds is a back catalogue of hit songs penned by Heaton in various guises and the chance to hear two of the most beautifully blended voices in modern music.  They harmonise so well that it really is as if they were meant for each other.

Drawing heavily on the recently released Wisdom, Laughter and Lines (which Heaton explains has dropped from 3 to 4 in the album charts) the pair, backed by a four piece band, run through several songs that are getting their first live outing plus a gamut of hits.  The key to Heaton's success - from The Housemartins and The Beautiful South through to now - is his ability to lace the sweetest of melodies with the most acerbic of lyrics.  So we get When Love For Woman Stops and I Don't See Them, both on the themes of love changing as people age, as well as the joyous Caravan of Love, the Isley Brothers cover and a number one hit from almost thirty years ago.

A sad omission from the set is Song For Whoever but other than that, and Heatongrad from the new album which Paul introduces as 'my Imagine' despite being one of the weaker new songs, it's hard to complain about the choice of material.  A highlight both of the album and on the night is Sundial in the Shade.

The encores include Keep It All In, Perfect 10 and Housemartins fave Happy Hour.  

Colne Muni normally plays host to C list bands and tribute acts (the Rollin' Clones were scheduled to appear two days later) but on this occasion it provided a showcase for two unassuming stars and a reminder that Heaton has produced some of the brightest and sharpest pop songs of the past thirty years.

Faces, Hurtwood Polo Park, Surrey, 5 September 2015

Was this a Faces reunion?  Can you even have a Faces reunion without Ronnie Lane and Ian McLagan?  Well, Mac thought so and spent a good bit of time in recent years trying to get Rod Stewart to rejoin his old muckers on stage.  Sadly, Mac died before this could come to pass and maybe Rod finally agreed to Kenney Jones' suggestion that they and Ronnie Wood perform live together out of a sense of guilt that he hadn't made the effort before.

Whatever the motivation, the three surviving Faces appeared at a chilly Hurtwood Park polo club in Surrey to perform a 45 minute set in front of an eager audience of 5,000.  They were augmented on stage by two keyboard players, backing vocalists, a horn second and a bass guitarist and second guitar.

But the stars of the show were Rod and Ronnie.  They stumbled on stage, the wrinkles deeper but the hairstyles still firmly rooted in the early 1970s, like a couple of overgrown schoolboys bunking off class early to go and hang around the bus stop in order to meet some girls and cadge a cigarette or two.  They joked about the lack of rehearsal time before launching into Big Bill Broonzy's I Feel So Good, a song which sounds like it could have been written for the Faces.

They followed this with You Can Make Me Dance, Sing Or Anything, introduced by Ron as one of his favourite songs and with Rod looking to the heavens to thank Lane and McLagan.  There might only have been three Faces physically on stage but the spirit of all five were present.  The opening bars of You Can Make Me Dance was a real hairs on the back of the neck moment for me - I never thought I'd get to hear this song live.

Ooh La La followed and then I'd Rather Go Blind, the Etta James song that appeared on a Rod solo album as recorded by the Faces.

Then it was (I Know) I'm Losing You, the Temptations song which tonight featured an unduly long Kenney Jones drum solo.  But in Kenney's defence he pulled the event together and so could perhaps be permitted his three or four minutes in the spotlight.

They finished with a glorious Stay With Me, the audience singing along, and Sweet Little Rock'n'Roller including a false start and then they were gone.  Only seven songs but forty five minutes of rock'n'roll magic.

Was it a Faces reunion?  I don't know, but a good time was had by all.  Will they do it again?  Well, Rod seemed keen to get off that stage as soon as it was over so I wouldn't put money on it.  Were they worth the price of admission?  Absolutely.  Ronnie Wood looked like he was having far more fun that he ever does playing with the Rolling Stones.

Sing it again, Rod'n'Ron.  Sing it again.

Ron Sexsmith, Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester, 27 June 2015

When a performer draws heavily on material from his or her new album, that's often a signal for a mass exodus to the bar.  But Ron Sexsmith's latest CD, Carousel One, adds a fine selection of songs to a twenty year recording history and no one was rushing to leave their seats as Canada's finest singer songwriter under the age of 60 (I have to be careful not to upset Neil Young fans here) trotted out Getaway Car, Lucky Penny, Sun's Coming Out and Nothing Feels The Same Any More.

Saint Bernard also gets an airing and Ron has a giant cardboard cut out of a Saint Bernard on stage with him whilst his drummer sports the face of another such dog on his bass drum.

The band is tight and muscular and handles Ron fluffing the lyrics to one song and wanting to restart it mid intro without any fuss.

But the show takes a particularly poignant turn when Ron performs unaccompanied firstly on the acoustic guitar and then at the piano.  He doesn't look like a rock star and at times his delivery of songs he has himself written, such as Tomorrow In Her Eyes, Gold In Them Hills and Brandy Alexander, makes him sound as though everything's about to fall apart.  This vulnerability is part of his charm and the reason why the audience brings him back for two encores when Ron and the band want to get away for their Glastonbury appearance the next day.

Other highlights are Strawberry Blonde and Sneak Out The Back Door.  Ron finishes with a stunning Can't Get My Act Together from Carousel

One and Lebanon, Tennessee from his debut album, bookends to his career.  The audience is loud in its appreciation.  Ron is amongst friends and the crowd knows it is in the company of a rare and self effacing talent.

Support was provided by singer songwriter Sam Palladio, who hails from Cornwall by way of Nashville.  He's in the TV show Nashville, which he managed to reference three times.  He could have done with giving the audience fewer mentions of the TV career and allowed his songs to do more of the talking.  There were a couple of beauties in his set which will hopefully feature on his soon to be recorded first album.  Think Peter Case with additional twang.