Daniel Knox from Springfield, Illinois (not The Simpsons hometown) - a big man with a big beard on a small stage.

The Greys was packed and soon lost in the sad, poignant universe that Knox inhabits with his Roland piano and sonorous baritone vocal.

With a vibrato to match Scott Walker, Knox's accompaniments, whether on piano or the computer generated electronic landscapes, were slow and deliberate.

The lyrics were on a music stand and when Knox screwed up the lyric sheet and threw it away that was the sign that the song was over.

The content included shopping malls, germs, and imaginary friends.

Quirky yes, but also musically enchanting and delicate.

Knox was sincere and vulnerable throughout his 90-minute set: "Now I'd like to play a song that I know."

He had the major distraction of a man being taken ill and probably should have had a brief interval at this point.

He chose to soldier on and credit to him regained the focus. His humour was dry and that rich vocal commanding.

The lyric was not easy to access, Knox is not a conventional story teller, but if you like gentle and pensive from a man with a pen lodged behind one ear this was your gig.

Three stars