Blogging this a bit after the event (25th April) as I have been on holiday in Cuba.
I didn't really know what to expect as I stood in the three quarter full Academy 3 waiting for the start of Edwyn's "comeback" gig, a shared sense of apprehension and anticipation rippled through the thirty/forty something crowd .
As you probably know Edwyn has been out of the game since Feb 2005 following a double brain hemorrhage which left him unable to walk and talk (playing guitar and making music were obviously completely off the agenda). Some of you may have seen the excellent BBC document ary "Home Again" which charted his remarkable journey towards rehabilitation.
The band came on stage with Edwyn missing. Roddy Frame, Edwyn's longtime friend and Postcard colleague acting as guitarist for the short tour quipping "he's still in the toilet". Eventually Edwyn slowly walked with the aid of a stick to his position, sitting on an amp centre-stage where he remained all night.
Kicking off with "Falling and Laughing" and "Blue Boy" from the Orange Juice back catalogue his voice when singing was strong but as idiosyncratic as ever - business as usual really. Most of the material was drawn from Edwyn's early career or from the most recent release "Home Again". Early on someone in the crowd shouted for "Felicity" Edwin explained that the song was one of James's (Kirk) and that he couldn't remember it very well.
Edwyn provided excellent versions of "Rip it Up" and "A Girl Like You" (including a face-melting solo from Roddy who was grinning like a Cheshire cat by this point in the evening) and covered all the bases fulfilling the partisan crowd's expectations.
