NTL Studio, Waterfront Hall, Belfast
John Martyn made some beautiful and distinctive acoustic-based records in the 1970s, most notably Solid Air, reputedly a "chill out" fave for today's clubby types. His reputation still rests on that body of work. In the 1980s and thereafter, he went electric and started making dense, stodgy funk albums while his vocal diction became increasingly impenetrable. Artistically, one has to respect his embracing of a new direction, and, occasionally, new classics did result, not least the still-extraordinary I Am John Wayne, given a stunning performance at this concert. Twenty years on, though, he is still ploughing that particular furrow, jamming away on a series of largely undistinguished funk-fusion grooves with an earnest-looking trio on fretless bass, drums and keyboards. Ironically, from today's perspective, this all feels much more outdated than his 1970s sound. That said, judging only in relation to other (often blase) Martyn shows in recent years, this performance had more commitment than usual.
Yes, as ever he indulged his frankly wearing persona as stoned music-hall buffoon (some of his audience clearly revel in this), but there were chinks of a real person every so often and the newer material - Baby Please Come Home, Give Me A Reason, Suzanne - not only sounded more crafted and melodic than has been the case for a while, but saw Martyn endeavouring to communicate the lyrics rather than growl and scat his way through. You pay your money and you take your chance.
