by Kelly Wood

Hi guys, just thought i'd let ya know how Newcastle went.

Bic ("buc, spilled b-i-c, like the pin" - hi miriam ;) was fantastic. What a gorgeous voice, lovely songs, highly recommended. Don't be late.

Neil played everything from Try Whistling This except "Truth." Also "Fall at Your Feet," "Don't Dream It's Over," "Locked Out" on bass only with the drummer joining in (and attempted crowd singalong, unfortunately, like that bit in "Sinner," it's kind of a hard one to sing along with), "I Got You," "Love This Life" as a request (with some cheers after the "tongue in the mail" line) ... what else ... "Suffer Never" (long, self-indulgent guitar solo which was quite good) ... "Message to My Girl" as a request he got on paper backstage (forward planning pays obviously).. he sat down at the kybd and played "In The Mood." "You're Not The Girl You Think You Are" early in the set to a big response. That's all I can remember.

Highlights were "King Tide" (rockin'), "Loose Tongue" (same, and chipmunky, yes) and "Fall At Your Feet" (solo with ac gtr.. liked how he played the first verse, just kind of really rhythmic and groovy, but he went back to the usual arpeggio style in the second verse). Liam played mostly rhythm gtr and some fx, took the lead on "Sinner" though, and that groovy acoustic bit in "Twisty Bass" ... also drums on some songs, not bad. I missed Nick too, though Rob Moore was ok. There was a running joke about how rob was the reverend of the band, and if anyone needed any guidance, comfort or advice, his door was always open and he would be available after the show (audience member: "God bless ya rob!", big laughs.. maybe you had to be there :). Later someone yelled out "Save me, Bob!" to which Neil replied that he needed to save himself first. Neil made himself popular by changing "TV page" in "Don't Dream It's Over" to "football page" (we here in newcastle like to gloat at every opportunity ;)