Triumphant return for the man with the golden voice
IT was yet another night of truly excellent music for the Leicester fans of Paul Carrack at De Montfort Hall.
His early new year visit to Leicester has become a regular feature and as usual it was an almost packed house to see the great man and his band of accomplished musicians.
The set was drawn from Carrack’s variety of past achievements as frontman for the bands Ace, Squeeze and Mike and the Mechanics, together with his solo career, in total spanning more than 40 years and collaborations with the likes of Nick Lowe and Timothy B Smidt and session work with Eric Clapton, BB King, Elton John and Van Morrison, among others.
The concert wouldn’t have been the same without the obligatory sprinkling of Carrack crowd-pleasing originals, including old favourites Amazing, Tempted, Eyes Of Blue, Satisfy My Soul and, of course, The Living Years. There were songs from his last studio album, These Days, including the title track, followed by more from his previous album, Soul Shadows, showcasing the song that he co-wrote with Chris Difford, Bet Your life.
Covers featured were Gerry Marsden’s Don’t Let The Sun Catch You Crying, Buddy Holly’s Raining In My Heart and Groovin’ which was written and performed originally by the Young Rascals.
The set was closed with a rousing performance of How Long, with much audience participation encouraged by Carrack and eagerly embraced by the ensemble.
The audience were left clamouring for more and they were not disappointed when Paul and the band returned to the stage to perform the evergreen Over My Shoulder before closing the show with Jackie DeShannon’s When You Walk in the Room.
It was an event of pure musical professionalism with Carrack’s distinctive and endearing voice effortlessly presenting his remarkable back catalogue of hit songs with enthusiasm and energy.
As usual, “the man with the golden voice”, together with his polished band, provided a wonderful evening of the best in all of the genres of music that he composes, performs and excels in.