Originally published by L.S. Media. April 30th 2011.

Ian McNabb is one of those Liverpool musicians that demands the affection of Liverpool audiences, from his days as one of three men to give the Liverpool Rock movement a timely boost in the form of the Icicle Works to his solo output which has thrilled his legions of fans and given Ian the status of one of Liverpool’s favourite sons.

When Ian reformed the Icicle works, there were slight rumblings from the purists that the band wasn’t the same without the other two original members, Chris Layhe and Chris Sharrock, however Ian pulled a masterstroke by recruiting one of the finest bass players around to the band in the shape of Roy Corkhill and in time for the thirtieth anniversary of the band, keyboard player Richard Naiff and the much liked drummer Mathew Priest to the line up.

All four men strode confidently onto the stage and proceeded to give the gig of a life time, it can easily be said by those there that in all honesty Ian had never sounded better or been more comfortable with his performance as he and the band played tracks from the bands back catalogue. Songs from the debut album The Icicle Works were interspaced between The Small Price of a Bicycle, If You Want to Defeat Your Enemy, Sing His Song and Blind with each song being played getting more and more applause.

The band opened up with the non album single, When it all Comes Down and the stunning Evangeline which had the excitable and bouncy crowd delirious with expectation of what was too come during the night.

Ian’s guitar playing on the night was quite sublime and as he took the packed audience of the Liverpool Academy through tracks such as the beautiful Little Girl Lost, Who do you want for your love?, the damning and explosive Up Here in the North of England and a superb rendition of Birds Fly which he managed to subtly weave in the Who’s Magic Bus as part of the tune.

The band finished off, what many will regard as one of the best nights of music all year, with Understanding Jane, the top twenty hit, Love is a Wonderful Colour and Hollow Horse.

The Icicle Works may not be the same band that kicked off a new era of Liverpool music in the 1980’s but there can no doubting the passion that still resides in the band’s heart.

Ian D. Hall