There's something about Jonathan

Jonathan Richman left the crowd baying for more

By BBC News Online Scotland's Graeme Esson

The story goes that Jonathan Richman was moved to start his own band because of his obsession with the Velvet Underground.

Some three decades later he is still playing his homage to their New York subway sound - and has earned a legion of fans every bit as dedicated to him as he was to the Velvets.

From the second he strode onto the stage at King Tut's Wah Wah Hut in Glasgow, the sell-out crowd demonstrated their delight at being allowed entry into Jonathan's world for a night.

And once he reels you in it's hard to let go - as was demonstrated by the crowd's refusal to go home, chanting for more even though the house lights had gone up.

Jonathan keeps it simple on stage

That determination - and the desperate cries of "Please" from some audience members - finally persuaded Jonathan and drumming sidekick Tommy Larkins to return.

It proved to be well worth the crowd's efforts, as the encores included old favourites like That Summer Feeling and Velvet Underground.

That homage to the Velvets managed to make Lou Reed sound far more vital than anything he has done himself in recent years, courtesy of an uncanny impression of his New York drawl during some snatches of the band's classics.

And as Jonathan sings: "Well you could look at that band/And at first sight/Say that certain rules about modern music/Wouldn't apply tonight", the words also neatly sum up the position which he now occupies himself.

He pares rock and roll back to its constituent parts - just a guitar, voice and "The drummer standing upright pounding along" - and remakes it in his own image.

Idiosyncratic

The beautiful simplicity of his songs has rendered much of his work from the Modern Lovers onwards timeless, meaning that newer songs can slip in seamlessly alongside established classics.

That is despite the fact that while pursuing his idiosyncratic world view over three decades he has tried his hands at everything from surf and country to garage punk, children's songs and an entire album recorded in Spanish.

His back catalogue even extends to the gentle skank of Egyptian Reggae - one of his best-known songs, which was tossed away as a quick opener at the Glasgow show.

After immediately winning over what was already a fiercely partisan sell-out crowd, he proceeded to have them eating out of his hand for the next 90 minutes - even winning a cheer for stopping one song abruptly because he thought he had sung the chorus enough already.

It's hard to explain exactly what is so captivating about Jonathan Richman on stage.

The crowd knew every word

It might be the slightly pained expression he maintains almost throughout, his heroic guitar work or the snazzy dance moves to songs like the classic I Was Dancing in the Lesbian Bar.

Or it could be the humour which surfaces regularly, but without ever stepping over the line and descending to comedy songs.

That talent for laughter saw Jonathan's public profile raised a couple of years through by his role as the wandering minstrel who pops up throughout gross-out comedy hit There's Something About Mary.

However, behind everything beats the heart of a romantic.

The one thread that runs through his work is love - be it love of music, dancing, art, European cities, walking or matters of the heart.

And remembering the US terrorist atrocities, he also gave pause for thought with a paen to another city which he loves, New York.