SharePaul Carrack performing his These Days Tour at The Royal Concert Hall Nottingham on Saturday 17th February 2018.
Images and Review by Kevin Cooper
With Nottingham Forest legend Kenny Burns amongst the packed audience at the Royal Concert Hall last night, Paul Carrack was back to deliver some new songs as well as his older and much loved favourites.
With his six piece band which included his son Jack on drums and percussion, the Sheffield singer songwriter opened with the up tempo Too Good To Be True, and wearing his trade mark hat, he quickly took his place behind the keyboards for the slower blues tinged Satisfy My Soul.
There were songs from last year’s album release, Soul Shadows, including the delightful Watching Over Me. There was an acoustic set accompanied by Jack and his bass player, Jeremey Meek, of which the highlights were That’s All That Matters To Me, inspired by his daughter’s absence from home on her gap year, and the lovely Van Morrison’s Into The Mystic.
With the band back on stage for Carrack’s biggest hits, his soulful voice filled the Concert Hall with the likes of the beautiful Eyes Of Blue and the raucous Better Than Nothing with Andy Staves showcasing his subliminal guitar skills and brilliant saxophone playing by Steve Breighton.
With his unique and mellow bluesy voice, Tempted had the crowd on their feet where they stayed for Love Will Keep Us Alive, The Living Years from his days as lead vocalist with Mike + The Mechanics, and the extended audience sing along, How Long, from his early days with Ace.
New tracks from his album which is due for release in April such as Life In A Bubble and the title track, the reggae influenced These Days were warmly received, and for the encore there was Over My Shoulder and Marvin Gaye’s soulful classic What’s Going On which saw the crowd show their appreciation with a well deserved standing ovation which continued long after this most underrated artist had left the stage.
