Gary Barlow, The Theatre Tour, BHGE Arena, Aberdeen, Sat 21st Apr 2018

It was an odd 'theatre' show, being held as it was in the 4,500-seating, echoey shed which is Aberdeen's Arena.

The support was a solo KT Tunstall (she introduced her band as all being from Taiwan). She's a confident, professional performer but surrounded by tech and starting each track building her sound loops she came across as a fancy busker. Good banter though.

Gary, without his boys, brought an eight-piece band and two backing singers but really only came into his own when performing solo at the piano. I didn't rate his numbers from his musicals or the swing versions of TT tunes. The crowd must have thought so too as there was a lot of loud, annoyingly screechy chatting, a symptom of their distraction. However, he really hit his stride at the end with 'Let me go', 'Relight my fire' and 'Cry' finishing 'Rule the World' and 'Never Forget'.

He might not be to everyone's taste but he gives good show. His patter is proficient to whip up the girls' enthusiasm, he's got the moves and actions of a seasoned performer and I could imagine this show playing Vegas (if anyone in America knew who he was).

Asides:
I'm pleased the really tall bloke two rows in front of my wife remained perched on the back of his seat. He could see fine this way anyway.

I wondered if the granny beside me wore perfume to mask the smell of her decay or if it was just the smell of her perfume. I was amused when the crowd management gorilla told her to put away her fancy camera when all around camera phones were capturing the show.

On the way out I managed to display what a poor stunt man I am by tripping over a plastic traffic barrier, falling into an idling vehicle waiting to exit the car park. No permanent injury to me but perhaps a handprint on the car door where I tried to avoid hitting the ground.

It then took over 45mins to get out of the venue car park. Or did I just wait out of embarrassment?

Setlist

Since I Saw You Last
Greatest Day (Take That song)
These Days (Take That song)
Live Those Years Again
Open Road
Pray (Take That song)
A Million Love Songs (Take That song)
Something About This Night
Dare
Another Crack in My Heart (Take That song)
Love Ain't Here Anymore (Take That song)
Sure (Take That song)
Everything Changes(Take That song)
Could It Be Magic (Barry Manilow cover)
Shine (Take That song)
Said It All (Take That song)
Forever Love
Love Won't Wait
Patience (Take That song)
Back for Good (Take That song)
Let Me Go
Relight My Fire (Dan Hartman cover)
Cry (Sigma cover)
Rule the World (Take That song)
Never Forget (Take That song)

Billy Joel, Madison Square Gardens, New York. Fri 13th Apr 2018

Today was a special day. Friday the 13th and lucky for me: New York.

Breakfast of strawberry pancakes at Pershing Square, a walk along the High Line, stopping off for gelato twice, 'A Quiet Place' mid afternoon (and I stayed awake), dinner in a lovely Italian restaurant, where our elderly Greek waiter looked after us well with an extra coffee on the house and told us 'No hurry for the table back' as he knew we were heading to see Billy Joel at the Madison Square Garden, even though the place was hoachin.

It was special because this is the furthest I've ever travelled to attend a concert and the first time I've set foot in MSG. First time seeing Billy Joel.

The venue is like the Hydro but on steroids, with an extra tier wafered under the roof. We were fortunate to have floor level seats but not together as, by the time I received my holiday dates, the gig was nearly sold out. Billy Joel is one of my wife's favourite performers so she would have been happy with any seat but this was the best compromise to avoid having to pay the best part of a grand to sit together.

He started at 8.20, finished at 10.50 with just a little two-minute break. No support act. This was his 51st monthly gig in residence and he makes every one different, asking the audience to choose which songs to play, throwing in covers like Superstition, Kashmir and Voodoo Child, and hitting us with his classics (even a rendition of Nessun Dorma, although it was his guitarist that sung). The sound was perfect, his voice gruff but still capable of belting out the higher numbers, the band really tight.

The enthusiastic, mainly home audience loved him, singing, swaying and dancing along. The age range was wide, from pensioners to millennial dating couples, and I didn't see anyone drunk. It felt like a community whose common purpose was to appreciate a master craftsman share his legacy.

Treat one ticked off the special birthday year list.

Setlist

Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)

The Entertainer

Superstition

Vienna (fan vote over "Just the Way You Are")

Zanzibar (fan vote over “Stiletto” followed by 'Born Under a Bad Sign' snippet;)

She's Got a Way (fan vote over “Everybody Loves You Now")

Big Man on Mulberry Street

The Longest Time (fan vote over “An Innocent Man”)

Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway) (fan vote over “Summer, Highland Falls” & "Say Goodbye to Hollywood")

Allentown (followed by 'Voodoo Child' (Jimi Hendrix) snippet)

Stop in Nevada

New York State of Mind

Sleeping With the Television On

Don't Ask Me Why

Until the Night

My Life

She's Always a Woman

The River of Dreams

Nessun Dorma (Giacomo Puccini cover) (lead vocals by Mike DelGuidice)

Scenes From an Italian Restaurant

Piano Man (preceded by 'Fool in the Rain' and 'Kashmir' (Led Zeppelin) snippets)

Encore:

We Didn't Start the Fire

Uptown Girl

It's Still Rock and Roll to Me

Big Shot

You May Be Right (with "Rock and Roll" (Led Zeppelin) snippet)