Paul Heaton

Paul Heaton, the English singer-songwriter, performs at Utilita Arena Birmingham with Lightning Seeds, the Liverpool band whose synth-pop rock dates from 1989. The evening brings together two acts from British pop of the late 1980s and 1990s.

Paul Heaton first came to wide attention as the vocalist and songwriter of The Housemartins, the group formed in Hull whose 1986 single "Happy Hour" reached the top of the UK Singles Chart. He then co-founded The Beautiful South, whose albums include 0898 Beautiful South (1989), and has continued as a solo artist, writing songs with a strong grounding in melodic pop and social observation.

Lightning Seeds are a British rock band playing synth-pop, formed in Liverpool in 1989 and signed to Virgin Records. Their first album, Cloudcuckooland, came out in 1990. Their sound combines guitar-led rock with keyboard-driven pop arrangements, a line that links them to the same period of British songwriting as Heaton's work.

Utilita Arena Birmingham hosts concerts and shows in the city. The bill suits listeners who follow British songwriting from the 1980s onwards, as well as those who know the Housemartins and Beautiful South catalogue and want to hear how Heaton's songs sit alongside Lightning Seeds'synth-pop.