NOT many concerts encompass such extremes of euphoria and ineptitude as those which marked Ian Brown’s show on Thursday. The build-up to his current British tour became a story in itself, when the singer suddenly took a notion earlier in the year to reclaim the songs he had left behind when the Stone Roses disintegrated in 1996. Hiring the guitarist Steve Davidson and bass player Frazer Clarke from the Stone Roses tribute band Fools Gold, Brown performed a raft of these old favourites for the first time in eight years at a low-key show in a Surrey park. Word spread like wildfire among an army of fans who may have taken Brown to their hearts as a solo act, but have never really come to terms with the loss of that touchstone group.

With expectations thus running at fever pitch, the Academy was jammed to capacity and beyond as Brown strode on to a hero’s welcome. With his chiselled, simian features and designer shades, he looked like a manga image of a rock star brought to life as he marked his territory with a succession of disdainful spits to left and right.

And sure enough, within minutes of starting he launched into a succession of Stone Roses songs, each of which was greeted like a long-lost friend by the ecstatic crowd. But although the band played capably enough, Brown’s performance was decidedly off-key even by his own rather variable standards. While he has never concerned himself with the niceties of hitting the right note, Brown struggled for most of this show to hit any note. Using his voice like a cudgel, he battered the delicate melodies of Sally Cinnamon, Waterfall and Made of Stone to a messy pulp. The sprightly chorus of She Bangs the Drums and the soaring refrain of I Wanna be Adored were both rescued by the audience, who seemed to have decided to take matters into their own hands.

The songs from Brown’s new album, Solarized, fared little better. Longsight M13 and The Sweet Fantastic may rank among the best solo numbers, but Brown’s delivery was half-baked.

Brown was joined by Noel Gallagher and the pair romped through their single Keep What Ya Got, after which the DJ James Lavelle appeared behind a row of decks and Brown performed the two songs he recorded with the UNKLE collective, Be There and R. E. I. G. N.. Even then, the audience was reluctant to let him go and, in his own inimitable way, Brown was clearly doing something right. At the very least, he remains an inspiration to tone-deaf wannabes everywhere.