The story is becoming well known. Mike Rosenberg was in receipt of a substantial development deal, and for a few years toiled away with his band, Passenger. While they made some progress, it was nowhere near enough and the plug was eventually pulled… Subsequently, Rosenberg had to make a decision as to what to do. Quickly, he pulled his socks up and became in effect a troubadour; busking his way around the UK and also Australia, where he developed a new audience for his emotional, heartfelt and down-to-earth storytelling songs. He also recorded a number of low-key albums in Australia, and was managing to scrape a living.

To scrape a living in music is a real achievement in itself. But when the song Let Her Go suddenly, and totally unexpectedly, went global – becoming a number one in 16 countries – he hit pay dirt. Just prior to that he had rekindled his relationship with Ed Sheeran, a fellow songwriting obsessive, whom he had met while playing small venues around the UK. When Sheeran suddenly became a megastar, he invited Mike to tour with him and that, combined with the success of Let Her Go, saw Passenger suddenly become a star in his own right. And now to The Dome, for back-to-back sold out gigs, in his hometown. A dream come true for Mike, and it shows, as this is not so much of a gig as a bit of a party, a veritable celebration.

Ever since the demise of his band, it's just been him and a guitar or two. That's it as far as live performance are concerned; next to no baggage, no effects, no costume changes, nothing. It's as if he has just come off the street after busking in New Road or Pavilion Gardens, places he used to perform all the time. All he's done is to transfer a show he used to give for free (donations gladly accepted, of course) to a paid gig in venues such as the Dome. So it feels appropriate that this 'celebration' begins with the quietly unassuming Rolling Stone: "Sometimes I feel I'm going nowhere/Sometimes I'm sure I never will." I'm not sure when he actually wrote those lyrics, but it sets out his stall; he wants to remain humble, but conversely likes the sudden fame and fortune. He'll have these questioning moments, but at the same time he bloody well knows these songs are good, and that they often connect…

From that rather modest beginning it's a mix of songs, stories, audience banter, laughter and collective singing. He wants the audience to make some noise, to sing along, to join in with what he sees as a collective appreciation of good music, good vibes and of course to extend a big thank you to all who have helped get him to this stage. Tonight, the love is largely mutual, as he delves into the recent Whispers album, and picks outs a smattering of older tunes including Let Her Go, which rather unassumingly, appears as a segue, mid-set. While he would be the first to admit that it's this song that has been largely responsible for what he has now, he'll try and not let it become the only song he is known for (after all, he explains, it only took him 45 minutes to write). Not that this is true of course, for large portions of the audience know many of the words to many of the songs, such as the crowd pleaser Scare Away The Dark, a rousing feel-good epic, one of the highlights of the Whispers album.

Almost completely in command of an occasionally heckling audience, when he asks for some quiet, he gets it, as he tells the poignant story of desperately needing a cigarette in the middle of the night, and encountering a man 'enjoying' a cigarette, a biker who has cancer, it transpires. The resulting song Riding To New York is a fine example of Rosenberg's excellent storytelling ability, an art that he, along with the Ed Sheerans of this world, are helping to resurrect, conspiring to blow away much of the sixth form, wishy-washy and messy poetry that passes for lyrics in indie-land.

He's also a steely character; you couldn't get much further away from X-Factor and the like with Mike Rosenberg. It's a pleasure to hear him voice in no uncertain terms the words 'I hate X-Factor for murdering music, you bunch of money-grubbing pricks' within the hugely entertaining Things I Hate song. Literally a litany of things he hates, everything from 'racist blokes telling tasteless jokes' to 'the Botox, that makes them looked fucked' gets a look-in, not afraid to explicitly namecheck Cher while doing so…

Looking like he's not willing to compromise his art or his character, and seemingly willing to bite the hand that feeds him, Rosenberg's insecurity is also there for all to see as he expresses his fears about the post-Let Her Go landscape, whether or not this is perhaps just a fleeting moment in the limelight. Deep down though he must know that it's looking like it's going to be alright, whether on the stage of the Dome or on the streets of Brighton. Back to opening song Rolling Stone: "What goes up will come down/And when you do I'll be around".
 Jeff Hemmings

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