GARRY CHRISTIAN has made no secret of his love of playing the Customs House and you just knew the band would be well up for this gig.

In the charismatic Christian, the band boasts one of the most soulful voices in the rock ’n’ roll universe. And in the year since last appearing at the venue, these Liverpool lads have continued on their course, singing songs that have social depth, unlike the saccharine pop of their Eighties contemporaries.

Opening with Dylan’s I Shall Be Released, homage was also paid to The Beatles with Here Comes The Sun and a version of Cat Stevens’ Where Do The Children Play. But these covers felt out of place because The Christians have their own sound and style that surpasses even these great songs.

Harvest For The World is technically an Isley Brothers song but has become synonymous with The Christians since they took it to number eight in the charts in 1988. Given what’s happening in Iran and Afghanistan the song takes on even more resonance today.

The new album, You Make Me Believe, is out and Overwhelmed sounded good when it was aired, but the delightful Born Again, Words, Greenbank Drive and The Bottle mark this band out as qualitatively different.

Ed Waugh