Hearing the piano playing Joe Jackson takes me back to 1979 a time when I listened and cared what was in the Top 40, where The Boomtown Rats, The Police and Jackson all vied for chart position.
Well it's 29 years later and Jackson is touring in a trio format with original band members; bassist Graham Maby and drummer Dave Houghton.
Support act Susie Wilkins rendered her chilled out songs with an impressive soulful passion. She ended her set with No Answer a sad and searching song with hints of Jeff Buckley.
Joe Jackson, sat at his grand piano, segued from Steppin' Out into Another World.
Playing an eclectic mix of styles, from the swinging 6/8 of a A Place In The Rain and the melodic pop of Too Tough to the laid back jazz of The Uptown Train.
His early pop hits, It's Different for Girls and Is She Really Going Out With Him? also made an essential appearance for this sold out show.
A detour came in the form of a David Bowie cover, Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) with great uneasy discordant sections.
Live, the trio format allowed Jackson to explore his improvisational jazzy side, weaving crisp syncopated rhythms, chords and mellifluous runs into his songs.
This was, in equal measure, a nostalgia trip and a re-awakening of just how good a singer and songwriter Joe Jackson is.
The invisible man is still around and he still has something to say.
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