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Upon arrival at the venue on the day of a show it normally takes about three to four hours to unload the equipment, arrange the instruments on stage, set up the lighting rig, place the projector and screen in position and to configure the sound desk. All this is done by a small crew of dedicated workers Gary, Kevin, Francis and Richard with the help of local crews. At this stage the musicians arrive and each and every instrument is checked individually and collectively for sound quality. On this current tour there are 39 outputs from the sound desk. In effect 39 microphones. Gilbert then arrives on stage and greets everybody in person enquiring about their journey, their hotel etc. A typical sound check will start with a song that includes everybody for example "Hold On To What You Got". Today that was followed by "What's In A Kiss" and "A Friend Of Mine". When Kevin [front of house sound engineer] is happy with the sound output of each section the musicians can leave the stage. Normally the string quartet are first to leave followed by the backing vocalists. Gilbert will then concentrate on working with the band. Today they played "Stick In The Mud", normally they play "Thunder And Lightning". After that Gilbert normally does a run through of "Happiness Is Me An You" with Bill on acoustic guitar and finally he will go through a few odds and ends on the piano by himself.
String Quartet: Laura Stanford [violin], Eleanor Stanford [violin], Amy Stanford [viola] and Jessica Cox [cello]. Band: Martin Ditcham [drums + percussion], Bill Shanley [guitars] and Nick Scott [bass]. Backing Vocals: Charlotte James and Niamh McNally. Saxophone, Flute & Harmonica: Julian Webster Greaves. Keyboard and Accordion: Mick Parker.
Gilbert [Electric Piano] + Mick [Keyboard] + String Quartet
Gilbert [Electric Piano] + String Quartet
Gilbert [Electric Piano] + Mick [Keyboard] Gilbert said "Dank u, goede avond [Dutch for thank you, good evening] - that's about it, it's a start. [Audience laughter]. We have toured consistently in the UK, in Ireland and in Japan since 1990. I've tried to get into Europe, I tried to get into Belgium. I've tried to get into where we've come from, that's Paris and before that Zurich. In Paris for example it was my first time there for 34 years. Most of you weren't born then I know that. [Audience laughter]. I'd never been to Zurich, I'd been to Geneva but that was 30 odd years ago. I've never been to Antwerp but I have done a concert in Brussels around the same time. It's interesting for me having gone to Zurich, Paris now here with you to see who's there. For example in Paris it was the night of the Eurovision, so I thought that there would be nobody there [audience laughter] but on the other hand the French were singing in English so I knew everybody would be there. It's good to be here."
Gilbert [Electric Piano] + String Quartet + Nick [Bass] + Julian [Flute] Instant recognition of this song with warm applause.
Gilbert [Electric Piano] + Mick [Keyboard] + Julian [Flute] + Charlotte & Niamh [Backing Vocals]
Gilbert [Keyboard] + Mick [Keyboard]
Gilbert [Electric Piano] + String Quartet Slight mix up on this song when Gilbert played "One Door Closes" while the string quartet started "Taking Sides". Gilbert asked "Did I say 'Taking Sides', this happens on a tour, they played one song and I played another. We'll do 'One Door Closes'. Sorry about that. If this was a DVD it would be cut out [making a cutting noise]." [Audience laughter].
Gilbert [Electric Piano] + String Quartet "2-3-4"
Gilbert [Keyboard] + String Quartet + Mick [Keyboard] + Bill [guitar] + Charlotte & Niamh [Backing Vocals] "This is one of the first songs I wrote even beore 'Nothing Rhymed' and it's become a favourite. It was played by a few DJs in England and had a turntable life. What's interesting is that people talk about "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" [quoting lyrics] and ask what was John Lennon on when he wrote it. There's a verse in this song: Now down among the Partridge trees Lives a "Don" who loves his knees So much so he's framed them in a jar
Gilbert [Keyboard] + Mick [Accordion] + Julian [Voices] "I didn't do the next song on the tour in England until near the end. Somebody sent me a leaflet about school bullying. It's a big thing in the UK. It's a very serious issue. I wrote a song about it, it is an subject I find interesting. So I'll do it, it's not in the usual act so girls [looking to string quartet] take two and a half minutes."
Gilbert [Electric Piano] Gilbert said "I only wanted to do that because I wanted to do the ending, I feel like a classical composer" [referring to the tricky ending to the song, where the chord sequence asends the piano]. Gilbert demonstates the ending again and asks "Do you know how long it took me to get that?.....too long!"
Gilbert [Electric Piano] + String Quartet "This next song is one that is liked by people who bought the album, I kinda like playing it."
Gilbert [Electric Piano] + Julian [Flute] "We all know about songs with silly titles. The next song was a successful song but until last year I hadn't performed it live, because it's that thing about what critics say about you. The evidence against me as a good songwriter was he wrote that song. Every review was terrible it would say he wrote that song. You're all thinking now 'What was that song?'. [Audience laughter]. It used to bother me when I was younger. I try not to read what people say, but occasionally you do. You shouldn't read good reviews either. That's a bit hypocritical. I don't care now what they say. So I did it last October and it's a lot of fun. I like the song...I wrote it myself". [audience laughter]. Gilbert giggling added "You know someone has to like them."
Gilbert [Electric Piano] + Mick [Keyboard] + Julian [Flute] A cartoon featuring Gilbert is played on the screen at the back of the stage during the song.
Gilbert [Electric Piano] + String Quartet + Mick [Keyboard] + Julian [Harmonica] Julian follows Laurent Voulzy's lead by whistling the intro.
Gilbert [Keyboard] + Band + Mick [Keyboard] + Julian [Saxophone] + Charlotte & Niamh [Backing Vocals]
Gilbert [Keyboard] + Band + Mick [Keyboard] + Julian [Saxophone] + Charlotte & Niamh [Backing Vocals] Martin counts this song in by clicking the drumsticks....1-2-3-4.
Gilbert [Keyboard] + Band+ Mick [Keyboard] + Julian [Saxophone] + Charlotte & Niamh [Backing Vocals] "I overheard some people talking when they heard we were coming to Antwerp and they asked 'Isn't that where that American actor Dick Van Dyke was born?'.....No! Rubens' [Peter Paul Rubens, famous Flemish Baroque painter] house is very interesting. There are nice painting there, I think he was the rock star of his day...2-3-4."
Gilbert [Keyboard] + Band+ Mick [Keyboard] Gilbert changed the lyric to sing "Is there a bank in town to cash me a Euro".
Gilbert [Keyboard] + Band + Mick [Keyboard] + Charlotte & Niamh [Backing Vocals]
Gilbert [Keyboard] + Band + String Quartet + Mick [Keyboard] + Charlotte & Niamh [Backing Vocals]
Gilbert [Keyboard] + Band + Mick [Keyboard] + Julian [Saxophone] + Charlotte & Niamh [Backing Vocals] Gilbert played 4 bars and stopped saying "It's a rehearsal, I like to keep them on their toes". [Audience laughter].
Gilbert [Keyboard] + Band + Mick [Keyboard] Turning to the string quartet Gilbert said "Can't Get Enough Of You". Turning to the audience he explained "That's the title, nothing personal." [Audience laughter].
Gilbert [Keyboard] + Band + Mick [Keyboard] + Julian [Flute] + Charlotte & Niamh [Backing Vocals] "Do you liked country music? [muted yes response]. Liars!"
Gilbert [Keyboard] + Band + String Quartet + Mick [Keyboard & Accordion] + Charlotte & Niamh [Backing Vocals] The girls don their green cowboy hats for the solo.
Gilbert [Vocal] + Bill [Spanish Acoustic Guitar] + Julian [Flute] + Martin [Percussion] Gilbert stood in the centre of the stage and was joined there by Bill on acoustic guitar for this song.
Gilbert [Keyboard] + Charlotte [Vocal] + Band + String Quartet + Mick [Keyboard] + Julian [Flute]
Gilbert [Keyboard] + Band + String Quartet + Mick [Keyboard]
Gilbert [Keyboard] + Band + Mick [Keyboard] + Julian [Flute] + Charlotte & Niamh [Backing Vocals] + Charlotte [Tambourine] Gilbert sang the chorus in French. The string quartet clapped their hands above their heads and encouraged the crowd to join in.
Gilbert [Keyboard] + Band + String Quartet + Mick [Keyboard]
Gilbert [Keyboard] + Band + String Quartet + Mick [Keyboard] + Julian [Saxophone] + Charlotte & Niamh [Backing Vocals]
Gilbert [Keyboard] + Band + String Quartet + Mick [Keyboard] + Charlotte & Niamh [Backing Vocals] A large crowd stayed behind after the show to meet Gilbert and to get items signed.
Gilbert played and sang 32 songs tonight representing material from 13 different albums. The breakdown was as follows:
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