When a singer announces their tour is called Catalogue: The Hits there is a risk they could fall foul of hubris but this nearly two-hour set from Midge Ure reminded us just how many great songs he has written and performed over his 50-year career.

With a CV including Slik, Thin Lizzy, Rich Kids, Visage, Ultravox and a solo career, Ure certainly has plenty of songs to choose from. Inviting a packed Symphony Hall to join him on ‘a trip down Memory Lane’, he ensured he covered all the decades - and threw in a couple of cover versions.

Opening with the Rich Kids track Marching Men, he was quickly into Ultravox territory with Passing Strangers and Reap the Wild Wind before launching into a cover version of the Walker Brothers classic No Regrets.

Ure told the audience he was suffering from man-flu and he struggled a bit with his solo track If I Was but for the remainder of the concert it would have been hard to tell he was anything other than one hundred per cent.

He was in chatty mood explaining that he was talented at writing depressing songs after singing the mournful Lament and before performing The Maker - a song he says decries those in power.

After a series of quieter songs from his solo career including Breathe and Fragile, Ure moved into the Ultravox classic Vienna and Visage’s Fade to Grey, urging the audience to get up on their feet and dance. And for the final few numbers which included Ultravox’s Love’s Great Adventure and One Small Day plus Thin Lizzy’s The Boys Are Back in Town, it was one hit after the other.

Ure told the audience he was cherry picking songs from his lengthy career so it was no surprise when he returned with an encore of The Voice which he frequently chooses as a show-closer.

Throughout the evening we were reminded that Ure is not only a fine songwriter and singer but also a talented musician as he hopped back and forth between guitars and keyboards. His one indulgence was a cover version of The Supernatural, a guitar instrumental by the Peter Green Splinter Group which he said he had loved as an up-and-coming musician and had played endlessly until he had perfected it.

A hugely talented backing group of multi-instrumentalist musicians also ensured the tracks kept their atmosphere from the eerie Vienna with its haunting violins to the pounding drums of The Voice.

Ure may be 71 but he shows no sign of slowing down and when he can give this impressive a performance even when he’s feeling under the weather why should he? With a song canon full of hits, let’s hope he’s soon back with another Catalogue tour.

Five stars

Reviewed by Diane Parkes at Birmingham's Symphony Hall on Sunday 1 December.