This weekend, my decidedly un-pop hometown of Belfast was graced by the man who arguably started it all. Of course, i’m talking about the great Edwyn Collins. With his seminal band Orange Juice and the label he co-founded – Postcard Records, Mr. Collins set the template for the subsequent indiepop/c86/twee/whatever movement. Besides all that, he wrote some amazing songs, many of which he sang brilliantly on Friday night in the Black Box. Now, it’s been hard to talk about Edwyn Collins from 2005 onwards and not mention the harrowing brain hemorrhages he suffered but rather than talk about that at any great length, I recommend you read the book written by his partner Grace Maxwell – Falling And Laughing: The Restoration Of Edwyn Collins, which I purchased on Friday night after a talk by Grace (prior to Edwyn’s show).

Accompanied by a 4 piece band – 3 acoustic guitars and keyboard, it was a stripped-down affair. After being introduced by the compère as “the man who invented indie” (hard to argue, really), opening proceedings was Orange Juice’s beloved debut single – Falling And Laughing, which sounded glorious with the acoustic back-up.

For the next 90 minutes or so, we were treated to many classics from the Orange Juice catalogue, including Dying Day, Poor Old Soul, What Presence?! and Consolation Prize. Even the funky Rip It Up and Edwyn’s huge ’90s solo hit A Girl Like You worked with the acoustic backing, the former well-recieved by the very appreciative audience (particularly the sax solo by the keyboard player). The most poignant moment of the show came when Edwyn sang Home Again from his last album which although written before his illness, took on special meaning afterwards (as mentioned by Grace Maxwell during her talk). The audience acknowledged this by applauding when Edwyn began singing it.

Despite needing a walking stick to get around, Edwyn even walked off and on the stage prior to the encore, showing he’s still every bit a showman. He finished the show with the Orange Juice favourite and indie classic (a Sarah Records band named themselves after it, for crying out loud!) – Blue Boy. A great end to a great show.