Sale sold out, and they were predominantly a Mancs band, so the atmosphere at that gig should be incredible! Please write up a review Lutty :-)

It was a great night on Friday too.
The venue sold well, and the audience gave the band (and local boy Ashley) a rapturous applause. I love the fact they haven't tried to replace Paul, but have Ian and Steve share the majority of leads, Ashley sings in his own band in Denmark, so I was pleased to hear him get to show off his voice in Sad Cafe. The biggest suprise for me was Sue Quin. Voice of the night, totally added a great dynamic to the songs she sung, and was a great lady, selling merch, chatting with fans, organizing the autographs, etc at the end of the night.
The set list was also a pleasant suprise, with alot more material than I expected from 2 of my personal favourite albums "Ole" (1981) and "Politics Of Existing" (1985).
2 of my favourite songs, "Missunderstanding" and "Emptiness" got an airring, and I think Steve handled the more 80's westcoast AOR stuff really well. (I would recommend picking up his solo album from last year on amazon or iTunes, "Travelin' Soul", very bluesy westcoast Americana kind of vibe.)
I am looking forward to next years half of the tour, and there's talk of a special show in London next year, which will not be the same setlist as the tours, but be a special fan event (possibly recorded for DVD/CD... i'm not sure yet...)
I hope the band continues, and I hope they can get on a bigger tour, and play a few bigger stages. A package deal would suit them I think, and expose them to a bigger audience.
Now we need to convince them to get back in the studio!
But in the meantime, Friday will be etched in my mind as the gig I have waited my lifetime to see, and I wasn't left disappointed.
Niv

P.S - Lenni is still alive, but suffered a massive stroke and is now in a nursing home in Wales. He's doing good, but still needs a level of care, and as such will be unable to join the tour. Des was telling us after Friday's gig.