Andrew Poppy - live at the Chelsea Theatre

I went to see Andrew Poppy live for the first time last night. A gig I've been waiting 20 years to see! Having followed his work since the ZTT era - the now 20-odd year old Beating of Wings - across work with choirs, orchestras, electronics and small ensembles, I really wasn't sure what to expect.

Actually this wasn't quite the first time I'd seen Mr Poppy live. I attended an unexpectedly moving concert by the BBC Concert Orchestra in 2006. Maximinimalists II, where they played 32 Frames for Orchestra alongside Gavin Bryars Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet and Howard Skempton's Lento. Poppy took a bow at the end. It was high-impact minimalism and quite an unforgettable night.

But back to last night. I'd previously reviewed his new album - ...and the Shuffle of Things - as like a 'Best Of', because it pulls together all those areas - the electronics, the ambience, the minimalism, the orchestricks - with such ease. And the concert version, as it turned out, added a coherence as he played through the album in its entirety, narrating, improvising and plugging things in, while all the while obscured behind a cinema-size opaque screen onto which extracts, lyrics, texts and images where projected.

I once wrote that Andrew Poppy's music was like film soundtrack that didn't need films, such is the imagination, and at times graphic intensity. Played out live, this kept the entire (sold out) audience on their toes, enthralled and - between tracks - in hushed anticipation. I can't wait until next time... which will hopefully come quicker than 20 years...