A fantastic show in Cardiff last night. It was the first UK date of the tour and what a show. The set list was more or less the same as the previous European dates - 2 hours straight through with no interval.
The Delmonts stuff was played first for about half an hour - I did wonder how many people had just come to see 'Chris Rea' and didn't really know what was going on at this point - great performances of Dirty New Town, Russian Roulette, BB Was A Comanche and others.
Then the Fabulous Hofner Bluenotes. As with previous dates it was a little strange that Chris has put together the whole concept of the Bluenotes but mostly used them on stage as a backing band to play his older stuff. No complaints though, that's what most people wanted to hear...Josephine, Road to Hell, On the Beach with a few new Bluenotes tracks in between.
Chris was on top form. He was full of life and looked really well. He was clearly enjoying himself. Strong, passionate vocals and playing that slide guitar like no-one else. The man's a legend.