Music: Paul Carrack

Just when you think Paul Carrack will hang up his funky hat forever and that, surely, this will be your last opportunity to vocally join the audience in wondering ‘How Long Has This Been Going On?’ Paul does what the Roman Catholic Church has done for millennia: he re-invents himself. From the brilliant warm-up group, The TinTins, to the final hoarse-making half hour of group hysteria to the comfortingly familiar tune of ‘Looking Back (Over My Shoulder)’, this was the Paul Carrack we all came to see, this time in a new hat in every sense of the word. The old favourites were artfully blended with many of Paul’s newer songs and with older material, such as ‘Love Will Keep Us Alive’ tricked out in new symphonic robes. This was a very classy performance, and perhaps the best of the many live Carrack concerts we have seen, due in no small part to the brilliant venue of the Theatre Royal. If you missed it, never mind. As long as he can continue finding new expression for his immense talent, Paul Carrack may well be around for another millennium.

Theatre Royal Brighton, 31 January

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