Time Out’s live venue of the year, Kilburn’s Luminaire, derives its name from a theatrical lightning fixture. Said unit is used to throw light during a performance, for added effect. A fitting the Luminaire has no need for tonight.

For this evening sees the uber-popular NW6 locale host Northern Ireland singer-songwriter Iain Archer. Entering to a respectful hush from a polite audience, Archer’s performance is so bright he practically glows. The Luminaire could have turned out the lights and Archer would have acted as a beacon.

Appropriately enough, this show sees the Belfast native promoting Magnetic North, his second solo album since stepping back out of the shadows in 2003 after a couple of years as Snow Patrol touring guitarist and songwriting collaborator. The latter contribution earned him a 2005 Ivor Novello award for Snow Patrol’s Final Straw album. It’s the first time Archer’s played the Luminaire after enjoying a number of performances from other artists, a fact a gleeful Iain shares with us – becoming visibly younger in front of our very eyes, as if he’s regressing to the time when he was a teenager, having just enjoyed his first French kiss.

Essentially, Archer does two kind of numbers. An acoustic one where he resembles his great idol, Omaha, Nebraska’s very own Conor Oberst aka Bright Eyes and a rockier one with Matt Jones on keys and odd assorted instruments, along with Gavin Fox on bass and Che Albrighton on drums. In which Archer is reminiscent of Conor Oberst’s side project, Desaparecidos.

With songs as tenderly moving as ‘Soleil’ and ‘Canal Song’ alongside raunchier crowd-pleasers like ‘When It Kicks In’, Archer can do no wrong. The crowd, despite a slight probably milked delay, get their encore and everybody leaves home happy. This is one Archer who certainly hits the target all right.
(4½/5)