FROM his early days in the La’s, to his solo acoustic venture and forming Cast, John Power has always allowed the music to speak for itself.

Now he’s bringing Cast back to Liverpool for a homecoming gig, and he says he’s never been in better form.

“We did the reunion shows at Christmas, and it just felt right,” he explains.

“There was a real sense of stepping back into something that we were all very comfortable with.”

Avid Reds fan John grew up in south Liverpool and his family are still there (“Allerton, Penny Lane, all round there – I still have a house here. My kids live up here. I’m still very much a Scouser.”)

But he’s come a long way since he joined the La’s on bass in 1986, fresh from a city council scheme for aspiring musicians.

With Cast, he found fame as a songwriter. Their debut album, All Change, sold more than a million copies and was the fastest selling debut record ever on Polydor, back in 1995.

To mark 15 years since their debut album All Change, Cast – John, Liam “Skin” Tyson, Peter Wilkinson and Keith O’Neill – decided to play out the record in full among their other hits at the 02 Academy Liverpool in their first gig together since 2001.

“It all came about because I was writing a solo album, but as I got further along with it, I realised it wasn’t what I’d set out to do.

“It was a band album, and, specifically, it was a Cast album.