For a man so obsessed with escaping his past, Mike Scott has a very curious relationship with it.
Appearing on stage full of vim and confidence, he immediately announces this will be no nostalgic rerun of old Waterboys numbers. Instead, he will play mostly new songs with the occasional glance backwards to go no further than his two solo albums.
However, there is no radical departure. Beginning with Maladiction and the autobiographical When Love Comes Tumbling Down, Scott's subjects and methodology remain familiar - loads of Celtic imagery, biblical references and American landscapes used to illustrate the themes of love, loss, change and spirituality.
The revelation, however, comes in the performance. Unaccompanied by the baggage of his previous incarnation, Scott's voice and proficient string work allow him to hit his musical marks on his own terms. Then, just as he has us all nearly convinced that there is life after cultdom and two disappointing solo albums, he invites two old cohorts, Steve Wickham and Anto Thistle twaite, on to the stage. They launch into an apparently unrehearsed Fisherman's Blues, as shabby an effort as any trainee busker on Shop Street, and the crowd goes wild.
Nostalgia, it seems, is still pretty big around these parts.