As a twentysomething with my own aspirations as singer-songwriter, I was always churlishly dismissive of David Gray, and I confess I have only been peripherally aware of his work since that album. A couple of decades later, I’m treating its anniversary show as an opportunity to grow up, catch up and re-evaluate. White Ladder struck a chord with (literally) millions, at a time when thoughtful, acoustic songsters were looking for ways to sound relevant in a musical landscape still recovering from the ravages of Britpop. Alongside artists like Dido and Beth Orton, Gray embraced beats and electronica in ways that few of his fellow troubadours previously had. The slow-burn success of White Ladder, and in particular the massive hit ‘Babylon’, not only marked a stratospheric rise for Gray, it also paved the way for a huge resurgence in acoustic music that would follow.