Photograph by Ian D. Hall

Originally published by L.S. Media. September 21st 2010.

Paul Heaton is one of those rare enigma’s in the music industry, much loved by all those who have followed his career from the days of the Housemartins and through to the heady days of chart success with The Beautiful South and now someone who, even though primarily a very private man, wears his heart and beliefs on his sleeve when making his own brand of music.

By kicking off his tour to promote his new album Acid Country in Liverpool, Paul almost guaranteed that the first night would be one of the finest and well supported nights.

With new tracks sprinkled liberally around a couple of classics including a beautiful version of the hit song Build and a rocking interpretation of Little Red Rooster, the audience were left in no doubt that none of the magic had disappeared.

Paul surrounded himself with some great musicians who grooved with the best of them and kept up with Paul’s unique style of delivering not just the song but the message within it as well. With Jonny Wright on bass, Peter Marshall, on drums and violin and Johnny Lexus on guitars making that all important leap from recording studio and all its refinements to the acid test of playing to a full and partisan crowd perfectly.

Paul finished off a set that was full of self deprecating humour and well observed songs with the six minute track It’s a Young Man’s Game from the new album, the classic Housemartins track Me and the Farmer and God Bless Texas which had the crowd joining in from the very start and still singing after each member of the band had finally left the stage.

One of the most interesting and socially aware guys in popular music and a real pleasure for anybody who made the trip out to the Academy, whether by design or by genuine curiosity, nobody that left the venue after the gig would surely have had a bad word to say about the evening.

An evening of biting, satirical lyrics wrapped up in some of the most upbeat and dynamic tunes written in the last thirty years and delivered with a style missing from most similar experienced performers.

Ian D. Hall