Julian Cope

Julian Cope (Kilmainham Hospital, Dublin)

Despite a sound system that never heard of the word "bass", and the couple of lights which would have been more suitable for a child's birthday party - all of which was an absolute insult to fans who paid £8 for a ticket - Julian Cope's one-man-show left most of his devoted audience smiling. But this was not a show which made the blood boil. It left you with more like a tingling sensation; a feeling that you had experienced something off-centre, something warm and friendly and humorous.

Julian Cope is a maverick; a wild man of pop. He is wild in his quirkiness, in his special view of the world, in his command of - and subversion of - pop and rock imagery. Part of him wants to be a star, looks like a star and acts like a star. But another part - the larger part - is constantly laughing at the ridiculousness of what is demanded of our pop icons. So he poses, throws those shapes and waltzes down the aisle with his toy electric guitar. But although it's all done like a pantomime, you can see that the showman in him is attracted by all that glitz and all that glamour. Because, as he admits in one of his songs, "I was born to entertain/So here I go."

With Teardrop Explodes, Julian Cope was responsible for some of the best pop of the early eighties; songs like 'Reward', 'Treason' and 'Passionate Friend'. His solo career has seen him change from a pop star to a cult saint. However, the songs he played tonight from his solo period, such as, 'Paranoid In The West Country', 'Don't Call Me Mark Chapman', 'Julian H. Cope', 'Trampoline' and 'Pristeen', although imbued with his special lyrical flavours and psychedelic colours, still use irresistible melodies and catchy choruses. 'Soul Desert', with its softly sung sci-fi imagery, reminded me - in the way he phrased the vocals - of Leonard Cohen.

Julian Cope has a rich, textured voice, which he often uses simply to go scatting with. Unfortunately, tonight, because of the tin can sound system, it didn't deliver the full impact of its potential. The sound and atmosphere was not helped by the room, with walls big enough to go mountaineering on. Still, all this, could not hide the fine and frantic artistry of his finale, 'Upwards At 45o', and his solitary encore, that great pop jewel from his Teardrop days, 'Passionate Friend'.

Tonight though, was the story of an artist having to fight against the elements - and Julian Cope deserves better than that.

• Gerry McGovern