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Playing solo in front of 250 invited journalists and fans Thursday night at local club Ted's Wrecking Yard, Ashcroft opened with an acoustic version of "A Song For The Lovers", the first single from the upcoming "Alone With Everybody" album (out June 27).
He followed up with a surprise run-through of "Bittersweet Symphony" - the only Verve song in the 30-minute set -- minus the now-famous Rolling Stones sample. The stripped-down song provided the evening's most spontaneous moment. Half-way through, the sound cut out on Ashcroft's guitar, but he kept singing, improvising the lines, "I move my feet/I don't miss a beat/Let's get it on, yeah", to huge applause, until a techie scurried on stage and patched things up.
The most warmly received of the new material was the pretty ballad "You On My Mind (In My Sleep)", which Ashcroft dedicated to "Kate and Sonny" (wife Kate Radley and their two-month-old son).
Strapping on an electric guitar, Ashcroft then proceeded to bash his way through roughly three minutes of "On A Beach", before abruptly cutting the song short, saying "There's a little bit of that one, anyway."
After performing his upcoming U.K. single, "Money To Burn", Ashcroft surveyed the sweaty crowd, a bemused expression on his face. "This is the first time I've played since Slane Castle, for 80,000 people," he said, referring to The Verve's final concert, in Ireland, in August 1998. "This is good. This is better."
With that, he launched into "I Get My Beat", a moving ballad that sounds like a cross between The Verve's "Space And Time" and "Lucky Man", and Amanda Marshall's "Dark Horse", of all things.
Despite forgetting some of the song's lyrics, Ashcroft drew a long, noisy ovation. He did not return.
Here is the complete set list for Richard Ashcroft's performance at Ted's Wrecking Yard, Toronto, May 18, 2000: