Many people may know Paul Carrack for his first hit with Ace in 1975 – How Long Has This Been Going On – a great and enduring song and a highlight of Tuesday evening. But he has been a prolific songwriter and performer (with Squeeze, Mike And The Mechanics and others) since then.

An enthusiastic following almost filled the Theatre Royal on Tuesday, clearly familiar with all his songs, and very definitely enjoying themselves.

Tin Lin opened. The two brothers, with Paul’s son Jack on percussion, gave a polished performance. They had a bigger and more varied canvas of sound than you would first expect, with pleasing harmony vocals reminiscent of Simon And Garfunkel. It ranged from some funky electric piano on the opening Red Wine Frame Of Mind, to neo-folk mandolin and guitar on all but one of their other songs. Worth checking out.

Paul and his band worked through his substantial catalogue - the man can certainly craft a good song.

While the audience demonstrably favoured power ballads such as The Living Years, I found them rather clichéd, with their emotional impact cloyingly erased by overuse of artificial orchestral backing.

But the band and singer really came alive with the mid-tempo soul and uptempo funk numbers.

By far the high point of the evening, Better Than Nothing half-way through the set, had a rawness and drive and therefore real impact – almost like a different gig (Average White Band if I had closed my eyes).