Gig review: Paul Carrack

Published on Wednesday 3 February 2010 18:03

PAUL CARRACK *** GLASGOW ROYAL CONCERT HALL

DESPITE the smooth, polished and largely predictable curve of Paul Carrack's live set, the Sheffield singer, guitarist and keyboard player has enjoyed one of the most diverse careers in pop. Perhaps his years in MOR rock balladeers Mike + The Mechanics were his most recognisable, but time spent in bands as different as Roxy Music, Squeeze and Ace as well as session work for Roger Waters, the Pretenders and the Smiths gives him an enviable CV.

Unlike his list of collaborators, this solo show offered few surprises. What it did provide, however, was a solid set of successful pop standards whose success spans the decades. From Ace's mid-70s heyday, for example, came a pristine version of How Long?, while Carrack's biggest contribution to Squeeze's catalogue, 1981's Tempted, was also one of the livelier highlights. What these songs demonstrated was the singer's true skill as a blue-eyed soul singer in that familiar 80s style. He began the encore with a cover of Marvin Gaye's Whats Going On? and, to his credit, made a pretty good job of it.

It's the Mike + The Mechanics output, however, which demonstrates the slide from best to worst of Carrack's material. Backed by his seven-piece band (dressed, like Carrack himself, in the style of sharp-suited Mafiosi), he offered up the group's atmospheric first single Silent Running, huge hit The Living Years and finished with Over My Shoulder. This last song was a dull lowlight, but fortunately tracks from Carrack's recent solo album I Know That Name markedly improved on it.