Richard Ashcroft @ SECC, 29 Nov

It can't be easy, stepping up to perform popular classics like 'Bittersweet Symphony' and 'The Drugs Don't Work' every time you play live. Even if you wrote the songs in the first place, as Richard Ashcroft did as then-frontman for the Verve, you'll be expected to match them for grandeur and impact on the night. This challenge is Ashcroft's triumph: to play great songs greatly. Both of these numbers are raw and moving. The problem, one that really can't be overlooked, is that the rest of the set is straight up boring. A couple of other songs have a seductive hook to them – 'Lucky Man', or recent solo single 'Paint the Night with Colour' – but for the most part the mundanity of melody and lyric is overpowering. Ashcroft's roaring voice is on fine form. His stage presence is not diminished by the hollowness of the venue. But this charisma is now, sadly, channelled into the inertia-steeped professionalism of a Radio 2 icon. [Rupert Thomson]