It was the first time Ian had played the Neptune theatre in Liverpool (at least in the eleven years I've been following him). The place was packed, and the atmosphere was relaxed--probably due to everyone having seats.
The show kicked off with a song new to me, but this was the last of the really new stuff, apart from a couple of songs which appear on the Oct. demo CD.
There was a nice re-work (musically) of "Love is a Wonderful Colour." "Fire inside my Soul" moved into the Doors "Light My Fire"--which received a tremendous roar from the crowd.
"Liverpool Girl" went down really well as you'd expect in Liverpool, with some lyrics different from the CD.
The guitar was swapped for a grand piano, half way through, for a near perfect rendition of "A little bit of Magic."
Ian was occasionally joined on stage by Mokka (presumably of the "Mokka CD" fame) to help with keyboards and backing vocals--but only for two or three songs.
A different kind of concert than I've seen before, slower and more laid back. Only "Evangeline" and "Understanding Jane" came close to "rocking it." The only real disappointment was that he was only on-stage for a little over an hour and a half. I think this would be a great venue to play with his band (is he still using the Afterlife? [editor: I'm not sure either])--better anyway than the Lomax in Liverpool which may be intimate but hardly a place for the great man himself to play.