David Gray, Wolverhampton Civic Hall, Tuesday December 6

Award-winning David Gray proved he deserves his reputation as one of the UK's premier singer-songwriters when he played a sell-out show at the Wolverhampton Civic on Tuesday.

Gray, who shot to fame with the multi-platinum selling White Ladder, showcased new songs as well as playing rousing versions of his much-loved hits.

Opening song Alibi stood out from the crop of new tracks from his latest album Life in Slow Motion. Gray's voice was spot-on throughout the show, proving he is as accomplished a live singer as he is on record.

Song of the night, Please Forgive Me, got the crowd moving and Gray invited everyone to sing along to the chorus in a rare display of audience participation.

In fact it was this lack of rapport with the crowd which was the gig's failing. Up-tempo songs were few and far between and the mellow, bordering on melancholy, tone of the slower tracks left some of the audience a little fidgety.

However, Gray got a better response from his early hits Sail Away, My Oh My and This Year's Love which have become modern classics. The accomplished band breezed their way through You're The One I Love and latest single Hospital Food which also proved winners with the crowd.

Upbeat new song Baltimore proved a popular choice for the encore but sadly Gray chose to leave show-stopper Babylon until the finale. Judging by the number of requests from the crowd, if he'd played his biggest hit earlier he would have had them eating out of the palm of his hand.

Natalie Driver