PERFORMERS like Jesse Malin defy the critics' attempts to categorise them.

The New Yorker, with just a pianist for company, gave a strident performance that had all the energy of punk, but stole from numerous other points en-route to a happy ending. It was Malin's energy that held the show together. Looking

like a cross between Vincent Gallo and Robin Williams, Malin's songs, albeit very similar, have the rare common touch.

Wendy, from his first album, drew knowing cheers from the full house with its winning chorus. Perhaps it was his knack of connecting with big issues in a simple, accessible way, but the tunes were very reminiscent of Bruce Springsteen.

Oddly, his cover of Hungry Heart was a failure, lacking the outsize personality to steal something so indelibly marked by its writer.

While the Boss's blue-collar concerns meant little to this audience, plain-speaking Malin managed to cut across the cultural divide. These are songs designed for a grand stage. Queen Of The Underground, with its great guitar, brought a touch of New York to York and the audience lifted Downliner skyward.

His set at T in the Park should be a walkover.

It's now all too easy to have a punk attitude and Malin's political rants were dull.

He also denied the alt.country tag ("I never breathed country air, I grew up around dog s**t and bad mayors").

To prove it, he threw everyone by closing with a stoned reverie about Brando by Neil Young and a ballad by MOR balladeer Jim Croce.

Updated: 09:36 Saturday, July 10, 2004