The Rolling Stones, Morumbi Stadium, Sao Paulo, 24 February 2016

This gig was never going to disappoint, as the band which pioneered stadium gigs and which (still) has the best front man in the business has been doing this for over fifty years and knows how to put on a show. Throw in a buzzing South American crowd, a slightly delayed start while the water was mopped from the stage after the early evening rain, a support band that was clearly well known to large sections of the audience and had them fist pumping along to several tunes (even if your correspondent had never heard of them) and throw in a warm and humid evening, and the sense of anticipation was palpable.  This one was nailed on from the start.  From the opening chords, we were off and running with 60,000 Paulistas singing along to Start Me Up.  The band were wreathed in smiles, clearly glad to be here (or, as Keith would have it, 'glad to be anywhere') and the atmosphere was unlike any I've ever experienced at a stadium gig.  

It's Only Rock'n'Roll and Tumbling Dice followed, and then we entered a bit of a cul-de-sac in terms of maintaining audience enthusiasm, as Out Of Control, Bitch, Beast of Burden and Worried About You follow, the last sung by Mick in a faltering falsetto that makes me Worried About Mick, so frail did he sound.

Things kicked back into gear with Honky Tonk Women.  Then Keith sang You Got The Silver and Happy.  The latter sounds a little threadbare without Mick on backing vocals, as that was part of the original song's charm.

But the Stones always unveil their nuclear weapons in the second half of the set.  The undoubted highlights are Gimme Shelter and Sympathy For The Devil.  Sasha Allen has replaced Lisa Fischer for this tour and whilst she may lack Lisa's physical presence she certainly has the pipes and duets with Mick on the thrust stage, bringing Gimme Shelter to a steamy climax. The latter, which was dropped from the Stones set list for a while, is now firmly entrenched as a centrepiece, with Mick in his L'Wrenn Scott cape and a new visual on the video screens to accompany the number.

The crowd sang heartily along to Miss You, responding to Mick's calls, and joined in on the chorus for You Can't Always Get What You Want.  Then it was the traditional romp to the finish line with Satisfaction.  Satisfied?  60,000 Brazilian fans certainly were.

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.

The Wedding Present, Concorde 2, Brighton, 23 & 24 August 2014

At Glastonbury Michael Eavis has to worry about whether the cows have been milked.  Down in Brighton at the sixth At The Edge Of The Sea festival David Gedge has to deal with punters' gripes about the lack of food ('there's a cafe literally just across the road') and make sure drummer Charlie Layton's Wedding Present Bingo ('like ordinary bingo but with Wedding Present songs instead of numbers') doesn't eat into valuable sound check time.  The musician turned festival organiser also finds time to raffle off test pressings of George Best and Kennedy, aided by his Dad and by partner Jessica.  And on top of all that he has to perform four times, twice each with Cinerama and The Wedding Present, who open and close each day.

The annual gathering of Wedding Present connected performers (formed from musicians Gedge has worked with or admires) now spreads over two days and this year drew acts from France, Turkey, Germany and - Yorkshire.  With appearances by Art Brut, The Membranes, Black Light Ray and Emma Pollock, who accompanies Gedge on vocals on two songs on Sunday's This Is Cinerama performance, there was a wide variety of acts to choose from.

But the aficionados were here to see the two 60 minute sets by The Wedding Present (most of the crowd had bought a two day ticket) and by the time the headliners were due to come on to close proceedings both evenings the atmosphere was heavy with anticipation.  Saturday night saw a performance of the 'lost' Wedding Present album Watusi plus Nobody's Twisting Your Arm, Brassneck and Flying Saucer while Sunday featured a reprise of the 1996 EP Mini, with a thunderous Go Man Go and a delightful Sports Car, followed by a fiery Kennedy and the rare delight of a new song (Secretary).  Backed by Charlie Layton (threatened with the sack for garnering too much applause), guitarist Samuel Beer-Pearce, bass player Katharine Wallinger and keyboard player Danielle Wadey, this brace of performances left the crowd calling for more.

The Wedding Present will be touring Watusi in the autumn.  At The Edge Of The Sea will be back in 2015, replete with Wedding Present bingo.  So will the faithful.

Difford & Tilbrook, Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal, 15 July 2014

If Difford & Tilbrook were a bowling partnership you'd want them opening the attack for the England cricket team. Song after song that they played at the Brewery Arts Centre in Kendal was a hit they'd written for 80s chart fixtures Squeeze and each was absolutely on target.

Their on-off relationship over the years (when Glenn left mid way through the first half of the set with two of Chris's guitars it wasn't clear whether he - or the guitars - were coming back) adds a piquancy to their sharing a stage. But tonight it's definitely all smiles, with a freshly shaven Glenn (courtesy of the Turkish barber round the corner) and a neatly dressed Chris stripping their vast collection of aural vignettes back to their acoustic bones and giving the audience a reminder of why they were once tagged the new Lennon & McCartney.

Sharing tales of their early days gave the back story to some of the songs, and Difford's explanation of why he bought a toy train set (to transport from one side of the room to the other a joint he was sharing) had the audience laughing out loud.

But it was the songs, mainly backed by their two acoustic guitars but with the odd twist of electric from Glenn, that this crowd had come to hear and that means they will remember this gig for many months to come. New arrangements were brought to old classics, from Take Me I'm Yours to Black Coffee in Bed and Pulling Mussels From A Shell and including their biggest hits Labelled With Love and Up The Junction, reminding us that Difford was the lyricist of his generation par excellence and that Tilbrook could write a melody to bring those words alive in song.  And whilst the charts may be a distant memory, Chris said they had been writing together again for the past two or three years so there's hope for the future, pop pickers.

The England bowling attack isn't what it used to be. And the pop charts are a much duller place these days without this pair of pop maestros.

Elvis Costello, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, 14 July 2014

Elvis Costello played a two and a half hour concert at Manchester's Bridgewater Hall with a set that ran the entire span of his career, from Poison Moon (the first song of his he ever heard on the radio - he had to turn the lights off in the house while he listened because he was so embarrassed) to three new songs he has yet to record, including one of more than 40 he has recently written with Burt Bacarach.

In between he gave the not quite sold out auditorium (Q. What have the people of Manchester got to do that's more important than seeing Elvis in concert?) a run down of his hits from Alison to Veronica that reminded everyone present just how many times he has graced the top 40 in a career spanning more than 35 years.

Bob Geldof once complained how difficult he found it to write songs whilst Costello seemed able to write three before breakfast, a point underlined when Elvis announced that he was going to play a song he hated and which he'd written in ten minutes as a joke, but which had gone on to become a hit ('but not a big one').  Everyday I Write The Book was greeted suitably warmly by the audience.

As well as the hits, there was some gristle for fans to chew on, including album tracks such as B Movie, Beyond Belief and Mouth Almighty and the rarely played Dr Luther's Assistant.  Highlights were New Amsterdam spliced with a chunk of Lennon's You've Got To Hide Your Love Away and Jimmie Standing In The Rain, which Costello finishes unmiked and standing at the lip of the stage, his voice booming out into the auditorium.

With his fedora, waistcoat and smart suit Costello looks every inch the vaudevillian entertainer that his 2013 Spinning Songbook gigs cast him as.  Had he been born a hundred years ago he would have been on the cruise ships like his grandfather before him.  As it is, he's here now - a walking human juke box who can respond to an audience shout out for My Three Sons or The Angels Wanna Wear My Red Shoes without breaking stride - and we are lucky to have him.