Gig review: John Cale at York Barbican

Few musical careers must have provided quite as many anecdotes as John Cale’s. From The Velvet Underground and Andy Warhol to a 50-year solo career encompassing 17 solo albums as well as production credits for the likes of Patti Smith, the Modern Lovers and Happy Mondays, he has covered an astonishing amount of ground.

To some amusement, a fan’s plea to “tell us a story” midway through his 80-minute set at York Barbican, however, is met with a firm “no”.

The absence of onstage banter aside, the latter half of tonight’s concert – when Cale’s voice is fully warmed up – shows that he is still a steely musical force at the age of 80.

Starting with the jerky Jumbo (In Tha Modernworld), his setlist seems designed to keep the audience on their toes, with a selection of deep cuts.

The classic 1973 album Paris 1919 is mined for the enigmatic The Endless Plain of Fortune and a twinkly Chinese Envoy before Joey Maramba’s bass effects come to the fore in Dirty Ass Rock ’n’ Roll from 1975’s Slow Dazzle.

His forthcoming album Mercy, due out in January, is signposted with the gentle title track and Pretty People, which combines dub reggae with post-punk guitar in a manner reminiscent of Public Image Ltd, while Cale declaims: “The monster growls at you/It shakes you to your bones”.

In between comes Ghost Story, from his 1970 debut album Vintage Violence, whose light funk guitar sound was evidently much loved by Edwyn Collins of Orange Juice.

The evening, though, seems to shift up a gear as the song structures become looser and the band becomes more experimental. Cale adopts an earthy growl for Fear Is a Man’s Best Friend and skeletons are projected in a danse macabre on a screen behind them.

For The Ballad of Cable Hogue, Cale slowly shuffles across the stage from his keyboards to a white Fender Stratocaster on which he trades lines with lead guitarist Dustin Boyer.

Villa Albani, from the 1984 album Caribbean Sunset, is particularly impressive, with an intriguing dialogue between Boyer’s guitar and Maramba’s bass while drummer Deantoni Parks keeps a relentless rhythm.

The sets returns to Paris 1919 for Half Past France which emerges from an unsettling beginning into ambient noise and pretty guitar figures worthy of The Durutti Column. Hanky Panky Nohow is enlivened by operatic vocal segments then they end with Cale’s jazzy rearrangement of Heartbreak Hotel, twisting Elvis Presley’s original rock ’n’ roll number into a searing lament.

Spurning an encore, Cale leaves his audience wanting plenty more.