robin hood club 2, bilston, 25 october 2001

AFTER the Scouse songwriter's rock'n'roll barnstormer in Birmingham earlier in the year, this was an altogether more reflective affair with the former Icicle Works frontman gathering together acoustic classics, waifs and strays from his career.

Seated and semi-plugged with just a fibre optic lamp, his guitars and a keyboard for company, McNabb took the opportunity to shake up the setlist, dropping several singalong standards to air both new and neglected songs.

They included cautionary piano ballad "All Things To Everyone," a tale of fatherhood titled "May And December," the Beatley pop of "Misty Meadows" and rocker "No Way To Behave," which had been premiered back in May at Digbeth's Irish Centre.

Best of the newcomers, however, was the country narrative of "Me And The Devil," a rambling western song in the tradition of the Marty Robbins gunfighter ballads, complete with obligatory tragic twist in the tale.

Not that the two and a half hour set was short on crowd-pleasers. Icicle Works hallmarks included stripped down versions of "Birds Fly (Whisper To A Scream)," "Little Girl Lost," "Evangeline," and "Understanding Jane."

But solo landmarks "Fire Inside My Soul," "Liverpool Girl" and "You Stone My Soul" stole the show, and "Still Got The Fever" still sends delicious shivers down the spine. Catch him next at Ronnie Scott's on November 18.

Paul Cole
Sunday Mercury

Review Copyright © 2001, Paul Cole/Sunday Mercury. All rights reserved. Reproduced with permission. Photographs Copyright © 2001, Nigel Davis. All rights reserved. Reproduced with permission.