Not many headliners would be brave enough to perform alone for 90 minutes. Meeting some of his loyal fans backstage after the gig, Justin Currie admitted that the experience was a little daunting. In truth, he needed little more than his guitar, his keyboard, and that voice. Currie’s velvety vocals are soulful yet always clear, ensuring that you hear every well-chosen word. The support act pitched between nervousness and giggly garrulousness to introduce her breathy and indistinct vocals, in stark contrast with Currieʼs short, amusing anecdotes and bittersweet crafted songs.

The Glaswegian singer-songwriter has released two solo albums, the latest being The Great War, after a lengthy stint as frontman of Scottish rock band Del Amitri, which produced late 80s and 90s hits including ʻNothing Ever Happensʼ and ʻRoll to Meʼ. Before the linguists amongst you consult your lumbering dictionaries, the bandʼs name is meaningless, designed, according to their website, “to confuse the public”. This wryness is reflected in Currieʼs catchy tunes: the audience craves to sing along, despite the dark lyrics which are often underlying the track, such as “Love disappears like spit in the rain”.

Currieʼs varied set mixed solo material with Del Amitri favourites, ranging from ʻNo Surrenderʼ, a political diatribe against the injustices and superficial banalities of the modern world, to emotional tracks about complicated, fractious relationships. The songs are never straight-forward or clichéd: in place of a generic break-up song he sings “if I ever loved you how come I feel alright”. Currie encouraged audience requests which often involved him strumming quickly to recall something from Del Amitriʼs back catalogue. In his good-humoured self-deprecation Currie claimed that he should remember these songs as “theyʼre all the same chords in a slightly different order”, but his formula of a simple, memorable melody and intelligent lyrics succeeds without striving to be ʻcoolʼ or edgy. Indeed, when Currie sings “I donʼt have my finger on the pulse of my generation, I just have my hand on my heart”, you can’t help but believe him.