I think I have finally got my brain back in gear after my trip to "The Toon" to see Bryan at The City Hall for the very first time.
Our terrible 2nd row seats didn't spoil a fantastic show from Bryan & the band and we had a wonderful evening. We took a stroll down to the venue to make sure we knew where we were going in the evening and it turned out to be a real treat when we heard the band rehearsing of "Out of the Blue", the familiar tune drifting out of the rear of the building. Knowing that Lucy Wilkins was back for this evening's show that gave us a confident feeling that it might appear in the set.
The show was superb and Bryan was in fine voice. His regime for this tour is certainly working and his voice sounds stronger than I have heard for a wee while. It is not perfect but then I don't expect perfection in a live concert, that is what recordings are for. The band with it's new members are doing a great job and they seem to have come together really well and certainly look as if they are enjoying their time on stage. I must congratulate Jimmy Sims the new bass player and Luke Bullen on drums as they are doing a sterling job and would obviously have had to learn all the songs from scratch.
The 26 song set went down a storm and Beauty Queen was a highlight for me even though the last verse is not played. It was very difficult to remain seated for so many songs that really require to be danced to! When the band struck up "Out of the Blue" I could resist no longer as I was so thrilled to hear it but then had to sit back down when it finished as there were only a few of us up on our feet. "Bête Noire" was also difficult to deal with, especially watching Fonzie "grooving" away on stage. "Seat dancing" is quite difficult in some venues when the seats are quite tightly packed! Lucy's violin on "Tara" was exquisite. I have heard this track played live many times but on this occasion the emotion seemed to pour out of her violin, quite stunning. When we reached "Avalon" I thought now is the time, LITD was next up and I could sit no longer and as the song finished made my way down to the front and thankfully all "the usual suspects" made the same move.
As usual Bryan stepped up a gear and becomes far more animated when he has a number of fans right in front at the stage and the final part of the set list flew past with lots of dancing, singing and cheering. He looked really happy and the band seemed to be having a ball.
The positive reviews of the shows so far are very much deserved and hopefully they will continue. I certainly enjoyed my first trip to The City Hall and can't wait for Edinburgh & Glasgow and hope they will be equal to if not better than NCH but I know it might be a tall order after seeing him on his home turf!!
Only a couple of changes to the set list with More Than This now reverting to the full band version rather than the slow acoustic version played previously. I have heard both so happy for that. A surprise addition to the set was "Can't Let Go" when Bryan was joined on stage by birthday boy Waddy Wachtel who played on the original track back in 1978. Waddy looked very happy at the rousing reception he was given. It also provided an amusing moment in the set when Bryan had an impromptu "unplugged" moment during the song. He appeared to stand on the cable of his microphone and was left with no vocals for a moment or two. He managed to plug it in quickly and picked up the verse and carried on. The stage rush happened a bit earlier than Newcastle during "Midnight Train". The final nine songs were met with a very noisy and appreciative crowd which in turn gave Bryan his extra boost and the rest of the band seemed to having a ball too. The Usher Hall is a brilliant venue and just the right kind of place to see Bryan. I hope he will now always make it a stop on any future tour.............The next time is the best time, we all know. 
