STEVE Earle, country rock's only neo-Marxist, six-time married former crack addict, has sure got balls.

Forget all those stereotypical good ol' boys in Stetson hats voting for good ol' President Bush.

Steve Earle out-countries them all and still takes on the mantle of the great left-wing all-American folk/country legend Woody Guthrie.

Agree with Earle's his anti-war, left-wing politics or not, it is certainly a brave stance to take. Earle would be an even bigger star taking the easier, safer, non-political option - especially during a controversial war. He doesn't - but his songs are just so damn good many of the mid-American, conservative country audience just have to buy him anyway.

With anthemic, political songs like The Revolution Starts Now and Rich Man's War, this show felt like it belonged in a younger, more rock n roll venue than the all-seated City Hall. The fact that this was significantly short of a sell-out and the audience was heavily middle-aged also took something from what should have been a much more charged atmosphere.

But, even at £20 a ticket, the audience got value for money. Earle and his brilliant group The Dukes played for about two hours. And it wasn't all politics. Soft songs, 'chick songs' as Earle described them, like the sad ballad Goodbye got some of the strongest reactions of the night. It proved that a man who has been married six times and was once jailed as a crazed drug addict knows something about the extremities of human emotion.

Earle has cleaned up his act but he ain't tamed.

Published: 23/11/2004