The caustic anti-sentimental Phill Jupitus hit the perfect note as compere of this tribute to Kirsty MacColl. He ridiculed hecklers mercilessly and aimed powerful jets of scorn at the staidness of the Festival Hall. MacColl herself would surely have fled in terror from the idea of a maudlin, Oscar night-style ceremony. Laconic wit and self-mockery were far more up her street, a fact appreciated by the evening's participants.
Look no further than England 2 Columbia 0, her tragicomic dissection of a date with a "serial liar" afflicted with amnesia over the fact that he has a wife and three kids. It was one of several showcases for Mary Coughlan, and she handled it with a perfectly judged mixture of stoicism and disbelief.
Towards the end of the show, Coughlan reappeared with Mark Nevin and a couple of the Pogues to sing Fairytale of New York, the MacColl/Shane MacGowan hit from Christmas 1987. The song is so closely identified with the two Macs that it is brave to attempt it at all, but they breezed through it with aplomb.
The range of guests hinted at the breadth of MacColl's abilities as singer, songwriter and collaborator. Roddy Frame skipped lightly through the triple time of Wrong Again, while Evan Dando brought a whiff of dazed alt-rock Americana to He's on the Beach. Christine Collister shuttled between backing-singer duties and solo spots on Amazonians and the steamingly tropical My Affair, while Brian Kennedy almost halted proceedings for a Kleenex break with his painfully affecting version of Dear John, abetted by the acoustic guitars of Boo Hewerdine and the song's co-author, Nevin.
There was something of a celebrity fly-past as the event reached a climax. Johnny Marr, resembling a refugee from Oasis, added some electric sizzle to Tread Lightly, then was joined by David Gray for Walking Down Madison. For a finale, Tracey Ullman bounced from the wings for a gleeful They Don't Know and an all- join-in There's a Guy Works Down the Chipshop, with 20-odd contributors. Tribute events often go horribly wrong, but this one went wonderfully right.
