Stephen Fretwell

His label sent him to New York to make his new album Man on the Roof and he is certainly playing a better class of dive these days - the Hospital is a swish members' club whose ground floor is hosting the Warhol vs Banksy exhibition.

But the capital’s churches seem to be making a big splash on the gig circuit and a canny idea it is too.

There's plenty of both at singer-songwriter Stephen Fretwell's low-key return to the town where he once worked in a crisp factory and an abattoir but otherwise this is a bile-spewing vengeful affair.

Apologies to him if offstage he is the Rod Stewart of Salford but his public persona is that of achingly raw loner.

Technical problems, Ed Sheeran baiting, a fainting in the crowd add to the magic and chaos of a compelling solo show. The set has a false start when the guitar isn't working and Fretwell has to leave the stage and come back on five minutes later.

The Troubadour, London, UK

After an Autumn tour that saw him fill the much larger Academy 2 on his Manchester stop-off the adopted Mancunian returns for a pair of very sold-out nights at the shoebox that is the Night & Day.