I came in here to tell fans about last night, only to find Graham E has said it all, really eloquently, and left me sort of speechless! I can tell you my husband and I travelled for a long weekend in the North-east to visit old friends. Six of us went to The Sage, two were SH virgins! They do go to many rock shows though and commented on the way out, "There's no on like him. That was incredibly special". They bought the Birmigham DVD on the ay out and we all watched it back at their house til late into the evening. As Graham says, Steve was on FIRE! Singing like never before (in our ecperience) and leading a great band like the great trouper he is. Bill Dyer on bass was superb, a giant in black strutting the stage and rocking out with the brilliant Steve Norman and Robbie G. The lighting was astonishing at times, wonderful silver explosions of light at "Beam of Light" in Sebastian, giant silhouettes of the master in torch song mode, and Sebastian, well, a full house standing ovation has never been more deserved - and just for that ONE song!! Death Trip - mighty and mysterious. Cavaliers, as Graham says, was cut after a couple of verses as SH found the band and orchestra were not in time with each other, and thought a re-start a good idea. Amazing. And the resultant rendition was scary good, totally mesmerizing. Like my friend said, "There's no one like him" . Steve, thank you for the night of my life.

It is very difficult to add to the above and having seen the same performances in Birmingham and Manchester the memories will stay with me for ever. Listening to my all time favourite Cavaliers was truly magical, even though he cut it first time around.
I also had the great fortune to meet up with Froda and his lovely wife, Froda being a true gent from Norway who sold me a ticket for the Birmingham concert last year when I thought I had missed the boat.
Thank You Steve and co for a truly wonderful evening....Tumblin Down at the end took me back to the Glasgow Apollo 1975

Jack

Great reading your post Graham. That show had it all, including the Harley drama with Cavaliers. Loved the rampant Mr Soft especially, and to be in a crowd of such dedicated and warm-hearted souls was in itself a worthwhile experience. Great night. Top drawer in all departments.

Well, what can be said about last night at The Sage in Gateshead? What a wonderful performance from start to finish summarises it nicely. Having experienced the very first orchestral concert in Birmingham in 2012, then The Bridgewater Hall in Manchester in April, this date had something to live up to and it certainly did not disappoint. This show was closer to our home in the Scottish Borders than the others we’ve attended, and The Sage is a favourite venue of mine. To be seated in the front row made the show even more of a greatly anticipated event.
The set list and order remained the same as per Manchester, but the venue, particularly the clarity and balance was significantly better in my opinion. Barry Wickens’ mandolin was drowned out at the Bridgewater Hall, not so at Gateshead. Moreover, the audience seemed much livelier – Manchester seemed like a morgue at times. Steve’s banter was seriously amusing (don’t worry, I won’t Tweet it!) and to show what a consummate performer he is, when things went awry in ‘Cavaliers’, the proceedings were stopped and the song duly started again. This is all the more significant as I’ve just read at length about Eric Clapton’s tantrum in Glasgow last night: not the attitude you’d get at a SH gig.
Thanks to all involved for a trio of great orchestral shows – the folk in London and Birmingham are in for a real treat.

There was definitely something in the air that night. Us Geordies like to give a warm welcome but with Steve it was electric. Everyone was with him and everyone loved him. He mentioned playing at the Newcastle City Hall in 1974 and said he would never forget when a man climbed down from the balcony on the lighting rig and asked how many of us were there. I unfortunately was not born yet but my Mam was there, she has a photo of Steve giving her his autograph and remembers looking down at his feet to see him wearing embroidered velvet shoes. He hoped that we would join him in singing Tumbling down and we did, so much so that he had to ask the band to pick it up again. He does an impressive North Eastern accent saying 'whey aye' twice and is also a fan of the accent. Steve wouldn't call it Geordie as he might be on thin ice with the others but said "you have a good voice, you know you do" before we sang with him. He said southerners hear a lot of it due to call centres. I'm in awe of him, Sebastian and Death Trip were beautiful and ethereal and I never thought I'd get to sing Tumbling Down with the man himself. Steve is funny, a genius and there is no one else like him.

Great words Graham, and so glad that you were able to make it over to the UK to catch one of the Tour de Four gigs. Would've loved to have met up with you again after what has been a few years now, but I elected to go to the Manchester date on this tour.
No worries, as we all know Steve will still be at it when he's 80 so there's time aplenty for a meet up in the future!
Enjoy the RAH too, what a time!