MOBY LIVE AT MANCHESTER’S O2 APOLLO

★★★★★ (5/5)

MOBY LIVE AT MANCHESTER’S O2 APOLLO
PHOTOCREDIT: TREV EALES

Moby at Manchester Apollo: The opening night of Moby's first tour in over a decade brings energy, emotion and euphoria as his Play 25 tour evokes halcyon days of decades past.

Support and special guest tonight is Lady Blackbird. As she takes to the stage we can't help but take notice. Statuesque in physique, a pure white shock of hair atop her head, and adorned in futuristic leather / rubber garb. And then she begins to sing . . . Her voice is simply stunning; soulful, bluesy and oozing power. It's just her and a guitarist delivering a series of sparse, emotion filled songs. Unfortunately, many in the Manchester crowd just aren't interested. There's a limited response after each song and a hum of chatter throughout. She closes with Champagne Supernova, possibly an attempt to curry favour with the Mancunian audience. At least it gets some reaction.

We'll see and hear more of her later.

Spotlights play on the stage floor, piercing the darkness. The funereal tones of My Weakness fill the Apollo as the band take their places. And then he's here, arms outstretched, crucifixion like, soaking up the applause; a twenty first century messiah reminding us of our collective past.

In My Heart gets things moving – literally. As the pulsating beat strikes up, Moby leaves vocal duties to his excellent backing singers as he scampers around the stage. Navigating circles around his band, pausing to milk the applause and urge us on. The man's energy seemingly transcending both stage and age.

Go takes us higher yet further back. Mournful yet beat driven, back to the early 1990's club scene with Moby propelling the rhythm on congas. There's a real vitality here and Bodyrock maintains the momentum. It sees Moby morphing into diminutive axeman as he careers around, pausing to deliver urgent vocals for the first time tonight.

Find My Baby's mutant, chugging blues rhythm keeps up the rock feel with Moby spitting out vocals with surprising menace. A liittle later, Extreme Ways brings the biggest audience reaction so far. Some in the crowd seemingly more familiar with Jason Bourne than Moby's back catalogue.

It's been a tumultuous, almost frenzied opening but we all need to hit that pause button. Catching breath, Moby takes time to reminisce; eulogising his childhood heroes The Human League, Heaven 17 and OMD. There's also a tale of coming to the UK for the first time in 1990, Visiting The Hacienda and being introduced to Tony Wilson. Is he being genuine or simply milking the Manchester crowd? It's hard to say but his name checking delivers the prescribed response.

Almost Home slows the pace; an acoustic rendition that really lets his backing singers Nadia Duggan and Choklate shine – and they really are exceptional. Everloving sees Moby return to the fray. The melancholic track ebbs and flows before the sonically uplifting In This World lifts spirits once again. As it segues into Porcelain there's a sense that tonight's gig's moving to another level. It also triggers another bout of reminiscences from our host. This time fondly looking back on his friendship with New York neighbour David Bowie.

The uplifting and euphoric Are We All Made of Stars takes us on from Porcelain with the crowd in full voice. But we're not allowed to get too comfortable as the hard edged Machete brings a reurn to club culture.

Lady Blackbird returns for the towering gospel blues of Walk With Me. Can this get any better? Can she get any better? Yes she can. Why Does My Heart Feel so Bad? is a classic in it's own right but her delivery is just phenomenal; leaving Moby and the band awestruck and applauding alongside the crowd.

The encore brings a strange rendition of Johnny Cash's Ring of Fire before Natural Blues takes us back to Moby's unique mix of melancholia and euphoria. Tonight's show is his first outside the USA for over a decade with profits from the upcoming tour going to animal welfare charities – a cause that's been dear to his heart for decades. He can't help having a go at greedy, money grabbing, Manchester revivalists Oasis. “All of the profits from this tour go to animal welfare organisations.” “No offence Oasis, but that's how you do it.” The put down garners one of the loudest cheers of the night.

He's not quite done yet though. To close he takes us back to his techno clubland roots. Feeling So Real and the pounding Thousand turn the Apollo into a seething rave with a dizzying, unsettling barrage of lights.

Tonight's been a real pleasure, a trip into past lives but more importantly a showcase for Moby's unique talent in mixing hard edged house with soulful, uplifting gospel tinged blues. There's been no big production, just exceptional musicians and singers given a place in the spotlight by a generous bandleader. As for Moby, it's been great to someone so obviously enjoying themselves, and a privilege to see him in the relatively intimate surroundings of the Apollo before he moves on to bigger things. Future dates on the tour will all see him playing to cavernous arenas.