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TIMING is everything in rock. It doesn't matter how talented you are if you arrive on the scene at the wrong moment.

Graham Parker's big year was 1976 when he released two masterly albums: Howling Wind and Heat Treatment.

Yet he never quite took off. He was too late to be the new Van Morrison, too early to be a new wave star – although his acerbic style influenced Elvis Costello.

Still, Parker's Ropetackle show proved he is quite simply one of Britain's best singer-songwriters, writing about blue collar lives with wit and passion. You can see why Springsteen is a fan.

The engaging and amusing Parker mused a lot on 1976 – mainly because he couldn't quite believe it was 40 years ago – and those early masterpieces formed the set's backbone.

Songs like Silly Thing, Fool's Gold, New York Shuffle, White Honey and Heat Treatment are incredibly strong. But more recent stuff, particularly from two new albums reunited with his old backing band The Rumour, showed he hasn't lost his touch.

Parker on acoustic guitar, harmonica and kazoo, was backed by ex-Rumour member Brinsley Schwarz on electric guitar ("We're The Graham Parker Two") and the musical and personal rapport between the pair was obvious.

The encore included You Can't Be Too Strong, his greatest song, and his cover of The Trammps' disco classic Hold Back The Night.

Parker, who moved to the US in the 1980s and found minor success there, drily bemoaned Britain's obsession with trends, adding defiantly: "We've stuck to what we've always done and it's pretty damn good."

He's spot on. Parker knows his ageing audience too. When he sang the lines: "I don't know why you love me baby/I dunno why you care/ Socks 'n' sandals, that's what I wear," quite a few of us nodded in recognition.