ON the road with his These Days tour, legendary singer/songwriter Paul Carrack returned to York once again last Friday.

The "man with the golden voice", Carrack has been described as one of British pop music’s best kept secrets. The Sheffield-born star has worked with many famous artists, including Eric Clapton, Squeeze, Eagles, Diana Ross, The Smiths and Mike + The Mechanics, to name but a few.

Husky-voiced Irish singer and guitarist Grainne Duffy served as the opening act for the night. While by her own admission unaccustomed to performing without a backing band, Duffy’s solo vocal talents and down-to-earth persona made for a pleasant, chilled-out start to the show.

Carrack and company entered the Barbican to uproarious applause and wasted no time getting stuck right in. Before he had even said "hello", Carrack and his band had already played three songs, setting off at an incredible pace.

Working his way through a marvellously diverse collection of classics, fan favourites and material from his upcoming album, These Days, Carrack’s ability to slip from rock to blues to pop and back again demonstrated the incredible breadth of his skills. The fact that he was also switching between guitars, synthesisers and a piano on the fly throughout – sometimes even in the middle of a song – was just the icing on the cake.

Mixing an excellent performance with amusing anecdotes and a genuinely rare talent, Paul Carrack’s latest York outing was an audible feast and a testament to a truly awe-inspiring musician and vocalist.