"The Mechanic Returns" - Paul Carrack live at the HQ Hot Press Irish Music Hall of Fame, Dublin, Tuesday June 13, 2000. Review by Brian and Joe McGrath.

The whole of our family went to the gig at the HQ which holds about 600 people and it was sold out months in advance and we were lucky enough to get front row seats. The show began with "Silent Running" and "Another Cup of Coffee" which are two of our favourite Mechanics songs. Paul also sang a lot of material from his new album "Satisfy My Soul" including "Running Out Of Time", "Together", "My Kind", "Better Than Nothing", "Inspire Me" and "Satisfy My Soul", all of which were great songs.

Paul has a brilliant voice and he sang great versions of "Eyes Of Blue" and "Love Will Keep Us Alive". He also sang a song whilst playing the keyboards, called "Battlefield" which he had apparently co-written with veteran song writer Nick Lowe. He brought on his backing singer Lindsay Dracass to sing on "Dedicated" and Paul said this was her first time in Dublin; she is only fifteen years old and has a marvellous voice!

During the show, Paul played keyboards and guitar , he had an excellent backing band as well. He sand a beautiful version of "The Living Years" and the crowd gave him a great reception they were all singing and dancing and thoroughly enjoying themselves... Near the end of the show he sang the old Squeeze classic "Tempted" and a superb version of "How Long?" before taking his bows.

He wasn’t long in returning for the expected encores which comprised "Over My Shoulder" which always sounds great live and "Make Your Mind Up" another song from his new album before taking his leave. After the show, Paul took time to chat to people and sign autographs and pose for photographs with fans which rounded off an excellent evening in fine style. Hurry back, Paul, we will be waiting!