HOW Curtis Stigers has changed. The bouffanted 90s pop star from Idaho is no more, transformed by middle age into a guardian of jazz and swing.

He’s the better for it. Stigers has always been blessed with a natural voice for this material and his sax playing has oak-aged into the style.

That said, the chisel jaw and hearthrob twinkle is still there and ladies of a certain age swooned at his presence, just as they did when birthdays were a time to party, not a time to dread.

For those who came in search of another reason to spend a couple of hours in his company, Stigers delivered the goods with slick, yet impassioned, renditions from his new covers album Let’s Go Out Tonight.

Unafraid to move away from jazz standards, Stigers blurs the lines between jazz, pop and blues by reworking an eclectic mix of songs, from Neil Finn’s Into Temptation to Richard Thompson’s Waltzing For Dreamers.

He, of course, sated the appetite with crowd pleasers like You’re All That Matters To Me, but Stigers impressed most with a brave cover of Steve Earle’s harrowing Goodbye and Bob Dylan’s Things Have Changed.

Throughout he joked “here’s another sad song” and for those brought up on hits like I Wonder Why, this would not have been the concert they came for.

But the bouffanted 90s pop star from Idaho has come of age and Everyone Loves Lovers epitomised his fascination with songs that appear sweet and romantic, until you get to the part where it kicks you in the stomach.