Originally published by L.S. Media. January 30th 2012.

L.S. Media Rating ****

If you are going to visit the The Lowry Theatre in Salford for the first time then it’s best to make the most of your time on stage. Hugh Cornwell has been around in the music scene for a long time, he’s seen it sang it and sold the tee-shirts by the lorry load, in terms of music he stands out as one of the greats but even the greats have a first night somewhere.

Hugh came on stage, his usual humble demeanour coming across to the vast auditorium space and the hundreds of fans that had braved the first winds of a winter chill opposite the new B.B.C. Media City collection of buildings. Hugh seemed overwhelmed by the theatre and made several references to it during the night and quite right too. It has a feel of a venue that suits Hugh’s music perfectly.

With a new album and his first novel due out soon, it was a pleasure for the fans to catch Hugh perform two sets of music that was delivered with his usual grace and style that a woman next to me who had never caught Hugh play live before was openly crying with joy on a couple of the tracks. Such is the power of live music!

Hugh opened up the evening with the Stranglers hit Duchess before playing songs from a catalogue of music that traverses across the better part of five decades. The Land of a Thousand Kisses, the wonderful Under Her Spell and Strange Little Girls were all received by a fantastic applause at the end of each acoustic driven track. There is always time for a new song to enter a set list, no matter the venue, no matter the artist. It gives credence to the evening that bands and solo artists are still thinking of their audience and not wanting to rest on past glories. One of Hugh’s new songs, Gods, Guns and Gays may seem controversial but the lyrics are genuine, they deserve a listen before anyone jumps to the wrong idea and slates Hugh for being wrong. It’s about free speech and America’s take on it. A wonderful and artful track!

Hugh finished a great first set with the wonderful Ricky Nelson track Sweeter Than You. Hugh carried on this theme into the second half of the show with a fine cover of Take a Message to Mary by the Everly Brothers. Hugh showcased a couple of other tracks during the evening from the forthcoming album Totem/Taboo including a fantastic version of the title track. If the song is this good live, it’s going to be interesting to hear the reception he gets when the album is released.

Hugh played on and the audience were in rapture all evening, a few stories were told including one of the great and much missed original Stranglers lyric writer, piano player and good friend of Hugh’s Hans Warmling.  A Hugh Cornwell gig is not a show stopper without certain tracks played. As ever Hugh didn’t disappoint as he played the serene but lyrically devastating Lay Back on Me Pal, the smash hit Golden Brown and the homage to Bob Dylan 24/7. As Hugh said, it must be the best job in the world being Bob Dylan.

Hugh finished a laid back but charming evening with Street Called Carol from the new album, the rocky Going to the City and of course the outstanding No More Heroes.

An exciting night of great music in a venue that stands out as one of the finest in the country!

Ian D. Hall