Before the show starts the sounds of Curtis Mayfield and Johnny Johnson are heard over the PA, which probably gives some indication of who Lisa's influences are. It seems apt that she will soon be appearing in a film about the Northern Soul scene.

It is nearly 10 years ago since she played a gig at the larger Bridgewater Hall a few hundred yards away from tonight's venue. Tonight (20th Nov) though, she chose the 500-capacity Sound Control venue in Manchester to make her comeback to the live scene.

Lisa greets the capacity crowd with "Hello, it's been a long time, Manchester." In her absence Adele, Duffy and Florence Welch have all made a mark on the charts and the music scene has changed a lot since her last album. With her hair tied back and dressed in black she looked tonight like Nelly Furtado's sister. Her songs have aged as well as Lisa has.

'Set Your Loving Free' opens up her set, her voice sounding stronger than ever. She appears genuinely taken aback from the warm response from her loyal fans after such a long time out of the spotlight.



Some new songs make their debut in the set, which suggest she might be moving away from her trademark pop/soul tracks in favour of a more down- tempo moody.'Stupid Heart' sounds more akin to the material Sade records these days.

Closing with a jazzy version of Cole Porter's 'Down in the Depths' she then dedicates 'All Around the World' to long-term partner and keyboard player Ian Devaney.

Still a great talent whose music can only enrich the charts again.