Jamie Cullum At The Lowry

Jamie Cullum is the type of artist whose success keeps on growing with him not fitting easily into any genre. In tonight's gig he touched on pop, grunge and a lot of jazz.

A sold out Lowry theatre confirmed his popularity amongst a varied age group. He has a likeable affable personality though it is not until halfway through the gig that he speaks to his audience preferring to let his music do the talking.

His first few albums were a mixture of cover versions and a few originals: tonight's concert was quite the reverse with mostly original songs and the odd cover. Rihanna's Don't Stop the Music was re-invented into a soulful ballad whilst What a Difference a Day Makes was turned into a delicate track performed as his encore.

His own tracks such as I'm All Over It Now recalls Ben Folds at his peak whilst Everything You Didn't Know is Cullum in a Gilbert O'Sullivan mode.

On All at Sea, a track which is 10 years old now, Cullum slips in Lou Reed's A Perfect Day, fittingly on the night Reed's death is announced. On Frontin' he drops in Justin Timberlake's Suit and Tie. He has a knack of working contemporary pop tracks into his own compositions.

It would not be a Jamie Cullum concert without him jumping from a top of his piano and also walking through the audience whilst singing. He is an energetic performer - by the third track he has already dispensed of his jacket and is down to T Shirt and jeans.

Backed by a 4 piece band the musicianship never drops below excellent.

Two screens behind him project his piano playing - it's a nice touch but it is one that Jools Holland has used on his tours in the past and if you have not seen it before it looks impressive.

Twentysomething closes his varied 2 hour set. By this time the audience was on their feet. Whilst many of today's live performers might not be popular 10 years from now you can be sure that the remarkably talented Cullum will still be performing and still as popular as he is today.