Dispensing with pre-song introductions (with the exception of the tender That’s All That Matters To Me from his 2013 album Rain Or Shine about fatherly concerns for a daughter spreading her wings) and racing between instruments with a speed that would give Usain Bolt cause for concern, Paul Carrack and his terrific sextet wowed the appreciative crowd in Edinburgh’s Festival Theatre with a collection of classics, old and new, many from his latest album These Days.

On the one hand, it was refreshing to see so much focus on the music and the lyrics. On the other, you wanted in, a glimpse into his thoughts and feelings, an insight into his nigh on fifty year career from Ace and Roxy Music to Squeeze and Mike + The Mechanics to his successful stint as a solo artist which to date spans seventeen solo albums, many under his own label Carrack UK.

With two drummers, two guitarists and two keyboardist (with Steve Beighton doubling on sax), Carrack and Co rattled through “a bit of old, a bit of new, a bit of everything”. Soul, blues, rock, pop, gospel – when the talent is this good, labels are irrelevant. What aren’t are the music and the lyrics which resonated with the sing-a-long crowd who by the end of the evening were on their feet for a handful of rousing encores including How Long, Over My Shoulder and You Make Me Feel Good – which is what Carrack achieved in his breathless and brilliant set.

A class act and a class album which despite receiving “no support” from Radio 2 who have “gone a bit weird” in support of popular acts such as Little Mix is current, uplifting and philosophical. The abiding spirit crystallised in the lyric: “All kinds of problems can be solved by letting life do its thing.”

Peter Callaghan
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