With all the kerfuffle about Robbie Williams, it's not often remembered that Mark Owen was the first Take That star to have a successful solo career. He shifted 1m copies of his 1996 Green Man album. Shortly afterwards, though, he broke with his record company and went to the Lake District to read about the evils of capitalism and, according to his biography, talk to the animals. In 2002, his appearance on Celebrity Big Brother triggered a musical comeback. This summer's single, Four Minute Warning, heralded a different Owen, who took the apocalypse into the charts and sounded like the Levellers.
His first UK tour highlights the transience of celebrity-based pop success. The venue is one-third full; the T-shirt stall is a lonely place. Owen arrives late, clad in black, twirling like a marionette. The twirling is as incongruous as his pickup band: rent-a-musicians with no discernible passion.
Owen is taking the unusual step of touring before the release of his comeback album, In Your Own Time. The music reflects the former superstar's weird dual life - scrubbed to a satin sheen for the mainstream, but with an inner soul of open fields, contemplation, lentils and real ale. The songs are not great but, like their creator, there are worse things you could invite into your house.
In fact, Owen is too nice for the rough and tumble of the pop game. Here, he cares enough about the audience to restart Four Minute Warning after a dodgy beginning, and he suggests people may like to go to the toilet during the new songs. Similarly, his Oldham burr charms more between songs than during them. Spectacularly misguided Beyoncé and Kylie covers descend into karaoke hell.
It might be best if Owen returned to his rustic paradise, possibly running an organic shop and playing occasional pub gigs, rather than risk damaging his sensitivity by inviting the unforgiving glare of the mainstream. Unless, of course, there's a Celebrity Big Busker, which he would probably win hands down.
· At the Sugarhouse, Lancaster, on Sunday. Box office: 0871 220 0260.
