I’m not sure if I have ever been to a gig as contradictory as this one. People were walking out while others were rushing to the stage to show their devotion. One act was surly while others were adorable. It was all very strange, but also great fun.

The major talking point afterwards was the behaviour of Badly Drawn Boy, who was clearly a Shuttleworth fan, declaring the Sheffield songsmith to be a genius before embarking on a very rambling anecdote about travelling down from Manchester and eating baguettes. There were cries of “get off” before he reached the Shuttleworthesque “can’t go back to savoury” angle, which slightly redeemed things.

But by now the show was badly overrunning (it was past 10pm and this was the first act of the second half, after a raffle and a film) and the audience could see Shuttleworth lurking anxiously in the wings. Badly Drawn Boy embarked on one of his own songs and again, amid cries of “gerroff”, won the crowd back by segueing into Shuttleworth's ode to the man who lives in the house in the middle of the M62.

But then just as you thought he was going to quit while he was ahead he did yet another of his songs to more jeers. As he finished it he threw down his guitar, kicked and smashed it and stormed off. As Shuttleworth later quipped, maybe he was disappointed that he didn’t win the raffle. 

This was a sour note in a sweet night raising money for MS charities that boasted simply one of the most bizarre line-ups ever assembled. Folky Gordon Giltrap was joined by Shuttleworth for a duet. John McClure joked that there was a thin line between what he did seriously with his band Reverend & The Makers and what Shuttleworth did humorously.

Chas Hodges came on from the wrong side of the stage and minus Dave and also blended his own material with the Shutters oeuvre. Martyn Ware of Heaven 17 was also minus his partner Glenn Gregory, so shared the vocals to Dandelion & Burdock, done in a brilliantly funny Ultravox Vienna style, with the host himself.

Review continues here.