On Monday 21st October, courtesy of Mathew Priest, with whom I became acquainted at a Party thrown by Phill Jupitus at BBC 6Music, my dear friend Caroline and I went to see Ian McNabb in concert at Concorde2 in Brighton.

Neither of us knew Ian's work, only that he is the former leader of The Icicle Works. We went in with open minds and were very presently surprised. He put on two sets, opening with an acoustic, largely unaccompanied set showcasing tracks mostly from his new album, The Gentleman Adventurer. Based on that set alone, I picked up a copy of the album at the merchandise stall. The second set featured the full band, including Mathew on drums and, as Ian promised, featured some heavy guitar abuse. Not knowing any of his previous work didn't stop us getting swept up in the moment and I tried my best to sing along to songs I didn't know at all. Ian's clearly a great showman and was having a great time, despite the relatively meagre crowd.

Despite not knowing what to expect, we had a great night out and gave Ian McNabb a heart felt thumbs up. We were particularly impressed by Ian's knack for telling a story and stand out songs have to be "Ain't No Way To Behave," "Lady By Degrees," and "German Soldiers Helmet Circa 1943." My eyes were opened that night, and I'm glad.

My sincere thanks go to Mathew for getting us in on the guest list and to Ian for laying on both a songwriter's showcase and a true rock 'n' roll show.

Cheers,
Dee,
Brighton

3 November 2002 with minor editing 9 Nov.
This review Copyright © 2002, Dee. All rights reserved. Reproduced with permission.