Alan Parsons Live Project

This time it's pure, unabashed nostalgia. A single, shared feeling unites the crowd waiting for the performance of this "Alan Parsons Live Project". An audience inevitably made up largely of over-40s. Partly, it must be said, thanks to whoever decided that the bearded sound engineer behind "The Dark Side Of The Moon" didn't deserve one of the many revivals and reappraisals so generously handed out to just about everyone else in recent years. Not Alan: he remains a prisoner of memory, even though his brand of electronics filtered through rock and symphonic pop produced some of the most intriguing and innovative pages of the blessed Seventies.

It's a concert built on nostalgia, but also on measured expectations. Partly because of the loss of the great Eric Woolfson, the other soul of the Project, whose death effectively brought that story to a close. Partly because the only member left from the original lineup is the founder himself, surrounded by a cast of session men. In the end, the effect is somewhat that of a cover band, even with the burly leader present, guitar in hand, holding court centre-stage on a raised platform behind the musicians (the true deus ex machina he's always been), guaranteeing the authenticity of the brand.

After the performance by UROCK, an Italian-American band with roots between Rome and Los Angeles - fairly dire as far as this reviewer is concerned, but quite well received by the audience - the new Parsons-led ensemble finally takes the stage, 45 minutes late. It's greeted by a bigger crowd than expected, even if the Foro Italico stands aren't exactly packed to capacity, to borrow a phrase from the late Ciotti.

They open with "May Be A Price To Pay", pulled from "The Turn Of A Friendly Card", an album Parsons clearly has a soft spot for, since it turns out to be by far the most plundered record of the night. A fine concept album, released in 1980 and centred on gambling, though other records arguably deserved just as much attention. It's a low-key start, not helped by a rather workmanlike "Damned If I Do", in which new singer Kip Winger, with his metal background, takes centre stage flaunting the seasoned showmanship of a second-tier rock star.

What really gets the nostalgic hearts racing is the driving, Spector-esque pulse of "Don't Answer Me" - "you should know this one", Parsons quietly announces - a song that marks both the end of the band's more experimental golden era and the finest example of the poppier direction that would define the albums following "Ammonia Avenue". Parsons himself takes the lead vocal, backed in the high notes by the band's harmonies, with bassist Guy Erez stealing the spotlight.

The setlist leans toward the more pop-rock-oriented songs, somewhat sacrificing the electronic suites that fans have dreamed about for so long. But in the end, that was to be expected, given the peculiar nature of the band. So it is that a positively brooding "Raven" resurfaces from the mists of time, pulled straight from the debut "Tales Of Mystery And Imagination", dedicated to the stories of Edgar Allan Poe, alongside a powerful "Breakdown" from the legendary "I Robot", which Parsons introduces as though recalling an old childhood memory.

But the Project is also a machine built for devastating slow numbers, and "Time" couldn't be left out, even if Winger's voice, capable as it is, lacks the gentle warmth of the dearly missed Woolfson.

Then, after a (frankly rather poor) "La Sagrada Familia" (from "Gaudi", 1987), Parsons stokes the fusty pride within us all: "These days," he says, "everyone listens to music on iTunes... a track by one artist, then one by another, then another still... Well, now we're going to play a whole side of an album, made back when there was still a side A and a side B." And of course, it could only be "The Turn Of A Friendly Card", which brings out the band's choral strengths, with reliable guitarist Alastair Greene shining alongside fellow singer and saxophonist Todd Cooper. A truly awe-inspiring mega-suite, every bit as much now as then.

Everything is performed with professionalism, but also with a touch of routine, including some rather clumsy attempts to warm up the crowd that sit awkwardly with the mysterious aura that has always surrounded the Parsons project. Still, the double shot of "Lucifer"/"Mammagamma", rechristened "Luciferama", lands a real blow, with the shimmering electronics of the APP outfit making the walls of the imposing Centrale del Tennis vibrate. Also pleasing is the recovery of a precious "Prime Time", to which Winger truly manages to restore the right feeling.

But before the encores, it's time for tributes, on the occasion of the hit most anticipated by the crowd: "Eye In The Sky", preceded by its historic intro "Sirius", is sung by Parsons with a special dedication (and an upcoming trip into orbit) to Luca Parmitano, the first Italian astronaut to complete a spacewalk, who had named it as his favourite song. Alan speaks little, but always does so with great grace, from the heights of his typically British refinement. He exudes the charisma of someone who has only ever dealt with the greatest – from the Beatles to Pink Floyd – but also the professionalism of the humble musician, respectful of the audience and light years away from star arrogance.

The usual ritual of leaving and returning to the stage brings three encores, the most precious of which is "Old And Wise", another spine-tingling Woolfson ballad, which Winger handles with real assurance. And closing the set, yet another recovery from "The Turn Of A Friendly Card", a rousing "Games People Play" which the crowd, by now freed from its initial stiffness, greets on its feet, ideally embracing the band. The farewell is a collective bow. The Parsons jukebox has switched back on, nostalgia has triumphed. Mission accomplished, then? It depends on expectations. Resurrecting the magic of the past was impossible, and besides, Woolfson himself never had much love for the stage. For those content to pay tribute to a monument of rock history, retracing part of its journey together, all things considered, it was a night to remember.

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