Endless possibilities: Edwyn Collins live in London

A fixture of the Scottish music scene since time immemorial (well, 1976), he first came to prominence with trendsetting post-punkers Orange Juice, whose influence on the bands who followed in their wake - including Belle & Sebastian, Franz Ferdinand and The Smiths- far outstripped their own commercial success. After Orange Juice fizzled out in the mid-Eighties, he then embarked on a solo career, peaking with 1994's worldwide mega-hit "A Girl Like You", which proved to be one of the defining (and enduring) songs of that much-maligned decade. He also took time to nurture the careers of an up-and-coming generation of bands, including Terrorvision and the Cribs, whose second album he produced.

But in February 2005, catastrophe struck when Collins suffered two cerebral haemorrhages within the space of the week. The resulting brain damage left him unable to walk, and only able to utter four things, including his wife's name and the phrase "the possibilities are endless." For someone to regain a semblance of normality after such a life-altering illness is quite the achievement in itself, but to be able to perform on stage again, to a standard almost as high as their heyday, is nigh-on miraculous. But that is what Edwyn Collins has achieved tonight (29th Jan) at this intimate, all-seated show at the London Roundhouse, and that in itself is something worthy of a standing ovation.

However, one of Collins' many admirable traits is a disdain for pointlessly dwelling on the past, whether musically or personally. There's a couple of self-depreciating asides about his condition, and some Orange Juice classics liberally scattered through the set (including the jaunty Talking Heads-meets-Chic groove of their only Top 10 hit, "Rip It Up") but many of the songs performed tonight post-date his illness, from the perky Northern-soul influenced opener "Losing Sleep" to the maudlin loveliness of "Quite Like Silver." At one point he invites his son William, a songwriter in his own right (and a man I personally know to have passed himself off as one of the New Pornographers at a music festival to gain access to extra food rations) to join him on "In Your Eyes", one of the most anthemic moments of his latter-day catalogue. It's a particularly touching moment even by this show's emotional standards, and is almost as well received as the inevitable airing of "A Girl Like You", which he conducts standing up, swinging his cane in time with the music.

What's also quite astounding is the degree to how well his singing holds up. There's a couple of off-key moments, but all things considered that can be excused- there's a whole load of acts who haven't suffered two back-to-back brain haemorrhages with far shakier relationships with a tune. One can imagine Edwyn Collins rolling his eyes at this but tonight truly was inspirational - a forward-thinking, crowd-pleasing show that summed up a magnificent career with charm and good humour - and proved that no matter what life throws at you, that the possibilities are endless.