Justin Sullivan

Tonight, Sullivan's almost 2-hour set was nothing less than excellent. His stately presence on the small and intimate stage of The Lexington as he steered through a well-balanced set-list of recent solo recordings and carefully picked New Model Army classics, was captivating.

So to a town in the Black Country, to a small music cozy venue for an intimate gig to see a general, a special time, without his army, just this man, by himself.

News has just been released that local record shop legend and DJ, Mr Tee, has passed away, and indeed the very venue we are in tonight, the last real venue in town, is to close its doors next month.

To a town in rural Worcestershire to a friendly local pub – The Boars Head – comes the leader of New Model Army – Justin Sullivan.

I never hear their music played on XFM the major music mags don’t review their releases and to be honest it leaves me a little bewildered as to why.

This was sheer luck for me, and a wonderful shock to read the bulletin post on MySpace announcing this rare event, just a few weeks before the show.