Paul Heaton

We trundled down to the Thekla again last night, to see Paul Heaton. He's a Northern Poet of a rock god, distinctly working class and ordinary in appearance. He's been a great songwriter for decades, since he was the driving force in both the Housemartins and the Beautiful South before touring under his own name. The Beautiful South used to be one of Moonface's favourite bands for many years, so we have plenty of records kicking around the house.

Heaton's style hasn't changed. He still puts crafted words to simple music to make songs that are memorable and full of emotion. Somehow he celebrates the life of ordinary people in a way that other artists don't: his is a very domestic style that approaches folk music in its subject matter. He knows that he's getting older, so his patter between songs reflected this, as did numbers such as "A Red Rooster" and "A Pub".

His appearance was a blast from the past. He came on in his trademark Adidas top which made him look like an escapee from the Madchester scene of 1988, and Black Grape's little brother.

Unfortunately the gig itself wasn't the best. It was more a matter of the mixing than the music, as Paul's voice was overwhelmed by the noise of the guitars. As he sang mostly songs from his new album, no-one knew the words, so although his audience was receptive and positive, there wasn't the opportunity to sing along which is always enjoyed so much.

We weren't complaining too much. Our mate Lou had put us onto the guest list (thank you, Lou) so it was a freeby apart from the drinks we bought. And it was a fun night out. After a day of oppressive rain we had taken the chance to walk to the Thekla and were rewarded by a dry evening and some welcome exercise.


:o)