I HAVE seen David Gray live a few times now but admittedly not for a few years so tonight was a timely reminder of what a talent the man has.

His distinctive voice is as strong as ever and added to that he seemed much more animated on stage compared to the last few times I caught a show.

At times he chatted to the audience and then went through periods where he seemed to be lost in his own music. And what great music it is so thankfully this wasn’t one of those gigs where people paid good money to hear themselves talk for two hours. This is music that demands attention so that you can really take in just how good the songs are and what a fabulous voice he has.

An excellent four-piece band consisting of drummer, guitar, bass and keyboard player accompanied David who supplements this with the clever use of loops recorded live at the start of the song providing a much fuller and richer sound as well as playing the guitar and piano himself.

The first portion of the gig consisted of new music which can be difficult to listen to at a gig but this was definitely the exception as it was all as good as anything he has produced previously.

Sail Away made an appearance just before the hour mark accompanied by a proposal of marriage in the audience (she said yes thankfully). This is one of his biggest hits and received one of the biggest cheers of the night but the set was packed with numbers just as good.

And what a set it was, when I saw the gig started at half-past-eight I thought I was in for an early night, but with a main set lasting two hours plus an encore, this was one of the best value tickets you will buy all year.

In amongst the material from new album Gold In A Brass Age, we did get the biggest hits including The Other Side played solo at the piano, main set closer Babylon and a rousing encore of This Year's Love and Please Forgive Me.

What a great night from a performer who seems to get better every time I see him which bodes well for the future.