After almost 30 years as the voice of Brummie reggae stalwarts UB40, Ali Campbell has set sail on a solo career, with the choppy waters of controversy flowing fast beneath him.

Whether he chose to go, or, as Campbell claims, administrative shenanigans forced his hand, he has swapped his old school friends for famous faces on his second solo album, Running Free. Hit and miss and solidly MOR, it features collaborations with Smokey Robinson, Katie Melua and Mick Hucknall among others, also expected to be appearing at this, his first show without UB40.

Like the star of an old soul revue, Campbell takes to the stage singing, while his seven-piece band and backing singers stir up a warm dub sound around him. Dressed in a baggy suit, he inches back and forth and winds his hips to the easy dub of Let Your Yeah Be Yeah, while the crowd, similarly grooving, shriek excitedly.

But Campbell gives nothing back except his voice, shuffling awkwardly while cheesy DJ Dave Cash introduces the "special guests". With the big names absent - Robinson is ill, Melua and Hucknall Awol - Kim Wilde makes a lamentable turn on I Got U Babe, while even a grinning Bitty McLean can't raise a smile on a lumpen Would I Lie to You? Beverley Knight and Lemar hit their respective big notes, but "the best rhythm section on the planet", Sly and Robbie, look as if they would rather be in a different universe.

Pato Banton provides some much-needed charisma and energy on Baby Come Back, but alone Campbell flounders. He stops and starts Don't Go, and though his voice remains evergreen, it is set adrift on a sea of turgid reggae. Even UB40 hits Red Red Wine and Kingston Town fall flat, while an encore of the Beatles' I'll Be On My Way leaves Campbell looking like someone not at the beginning of a new chapter, but lamenting the end of the last one.

· At Colston Hall, Bristol, on June 3. Box office: 0117-922 3686. Then touring.