ED HARCOURT is a man with a lot to live up to. Critically, he's gone supernova with all sorts of excessive praise, Mercury Music Prize nominations and singer/ songwriter plaudits scrabbling in his wake.
Up here in the provinces, though, he's still got enough to prove, and while tonight the venue's respectably attended, the atmosphere is equal parts expectancy and plain old-fashioned curiosity.
I'd expected a fey, hazy character, but obviously his recent outings supporting Supergrass have sharpened him up and he's got bags of confidence tonight. Besides, I can't imagine Nick Drake pulling off the sort of shirt Ed's proudly sporting tonight.
That said, don't imagine this to have been either a tehnicolour Vaudeville display or some awful, sub-Ozzy spectacle of rock'n'roll excess either, as the emphasis still falls very much on the songs themselves.
Ed flits between guitar and organ/ piano and rarely fails to move us with his often downbeat, romantic songs. He doesn't try to distract too much attention and the muical backdrops are usually subtle and discreet, rather than intrusive.
I'm not all that familar with all Harcourt's previous material and certainly the emphasis tonight was on the (gentle) shock of the new. 'Shock' does sometimes come into it as well, like when Ed and co strip back the beautiful, lilting version of Brian Wilson's "Still I Dream Of It" to reveal a murky, almost drone-rock heart that The Velvets or (steady on!) Sonic Youth would be proud of.
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Other highlights were many and varied, although certainly new single "All Of Your Days Will Be Blessed" sounded like a surefire winner as Ed led us through his dreamily seductive soundscape and "Sleepyhead" and "Coal Black Heart" showed that Harcourt can bare his teeth when the mood calls for it.
Tonight was my first experience of Ed Harcourt live and I came away hoping it won't be the last. He's basically from the old-fashioned English singer/ sogwriter tradition, but with enough kooks and kinks to suggest his (only sometimes) delicate muse will survive long into the future. Here's hoping.
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