HIS posters used to bill him as "the voice of Mike + The Mechanics"' and "ex of Squeeze" but not tonight. For the BBC Radio 2 ever-present those songs were not the stand-out tunes.

Paul Carrack has evolved free from the shackles of record companies with a new sound team who delivered the most astonishing clarity I have heard in the Barbican.

His Made in Sheffield line-up delivered everything with care, adding perfect seasoning to his homemade recipes. They looked after Carrack's songs as if they were their own, reminiscent of a James Taylor line-up, and sax player Steve Beighton's default setting never fell short of astounding.

The setlist was expertly crafted as songs ebbed and flowed without a single person checking their watch or holding up a mobile phone. One woman called it "grown-up music". I felt it was better described as "alive", a life's work of experience and performance as a man still pinches himself at the life his love of music has given him. At one moment of mutual respect, Paul smiled proudly as son Jack accompanied him on his drum kit.

The song How Long, from Carrack's Ace days in the Seventies, ended the evening, highlighting where it all began, but it should be renamed How Far to show just how far he has come.

The posters should now read "Paul Carrack – life-long songwriter, still learning, still improving, still hungry".