Opening to the immortal sound of 'Fool's Gold' it seems something has gone wrong here.
"Stop that old shit!" yells Ian Brown, typically attired in camouflage flak jacket and sporting the timeless indie badge of honour that is The Ian Brown Straggly Haircut™.
So, his past life in one of the greatest bands on the planet dismissed with a mere flick of the wrist, Brownie launches uncertainly into 'Set My Baby Free'. Of course, he still hasn't got the knack of dropping his vocals into time with the band.
However, like all the true musical visionaries that couldn't get the better of their vocal shortcomings, he makes up for it with his very own idiosyncratic charms and fine songs.
'Whispers' provides an impressively lazy groove for the occasionally too proficient band to bounce tabla rhythms and sweeping salsoul strings about. Meanwhile, it's time for Ian Brown to have a go at burning the flag that's landed onstage.
"Are you proud to be British?" he demands. "We don't need any badges man."
'Golden Gaze' and 'Dolphins Were Monkeys' are huge, driving hybrids spawned from the ashes of Madchester and delivered with unfaltering conviction. So much so they empower their creator to such an extent that he appears to want to prove that he really can sing, holding the chorus long after the band has abandoned him. Not a good idea.
'My Star' is still a wonderful thing to behold and it highlights just how many acts on this year's bill still make this sound. Even the likes of Doves still travel in the slipstream of this anthemic Mancunian indie for which 'My Star' staged a wake back at the tail-end of the nineties.
So, Ian Brown, still a maverick and all the better for it.
