The British leg of the Irlish tour began in the north east of England in Newcastle.  I met up with Gilbert's brother Kevin at the theatre at 4.30 p.m. and took my seat in the darkened theatre for the sound check.  I was joined by two members of the Irlish Tour mini-group: Linda Stienstra (Holland) and Jane Smart (Scotland).  Gilbert, with Mick Parker on keyboards and accordion and backed by singers Eve Naylor and Helen Hardy practiced some of the songs for show.  They covered "The Thing Is", "Have It", "Say Goodbye" and "Forever Wondering" with local saxophone player Archie Brown.  Then "Thunder and Lightning" three times with a great solo each time by Archie.  Mick and Gilbert then spent time perfecting the solos and the timing of "The Way Things Used To Be", "Mr. Moody's Garden", "Lost A Friend", "Sometimes", "Permissive Twit" and "Water Music".   At 5.45 the sound check was complete and we headed for a local restaurant were we met up with fellow group member Sjaak van Oosterhout (Holland) and Jane's husband Stan. Stan is not yet a Gilbert fan but I think that he is weakening.  In another five years or so I'd say that he'd nearly be able to listen to a whole song. We were all so thankful that once again the Gilbert mailing list has brought such nice people together (thanks Steve). Prior to the show I met up with another familiar name from the list Charlie McDonald from Scotland.  The five of us had prime position in the front row seats as we waited for our hero.     JANE - SJAAK - LINDA - BRIAN - CHARLIE 1st HALF DISAPPEAR At 8.35 p.m. Gilbert took to the stage in a black shirt with blue sleeves.  The show was very poorly attended due to the lack of publicity, but despite this Gilbert was in an upbeat mood and made many humorous references to the small turnout.  After the first song he went straight into the second without a word. THE THING IS - [From the album "A STRANGER IN MY OWN BACK YARD"] At the end of this song Gilbert looking at the small audience joked "I'm glad you could make it".  He went on to say that he doesn't lose sleep over who comes or doesn't come to his shows but the main thing is that he gives a good performance, which he delivered.  It's up to the promoter he said to worry and have the heart attacks and he reckoned that he probably would. NOTHING RHYMED - [From the album "HIMSELF"] NO MATTER HOW I TRY Lyrics changed slightly from "Is there a bank in town, that might cash me as a pound?" to "Is there a bank in town, that might cash this euro for a pound?" BECAUSE OF YOU - [From the album "BY LARRY" / "THE LITTLE ALBUM"] WE WILL Gilbert explained the reason behind the name of his most recent album Irlish, the fact that he is a mixture of both Irish and English, although in Ireland he is considered an English singer and in England he is thought of as an Irish singer.  He's just glad that he lives in Jersey.  He mentioned how proud he is of his Irish roots and of his Swindon roots.  Although he bemoaned the position in the league of the Swindon football team and said he wished they had a Bobby Robson (Newcastle Football manager). HAVE IT - [From the album "IRLISH"] MISS MY LOVE TODAY - [From the album "SOUTHPAW"] Album tracks, Gilbert said gives the artist the opportunity to experiment and try different styles.  If an artist's career depended solely on hit singles then careers would be short.  Gilbert himself will sometimes buy an album for a particular song but will end up liking one or two of the album tracks even more than the single. STICK IN THE MUD - [From the album "FROBISHER DRIVE / IN THE KEY OF G"] CLAIR - [From the album "BACK TO FRONT"] Gilbert recalled the time five or six years ago when he was stopped by a group of fans in Jersey while he was out walking with his daughter Tara aged 9 or 10.  "We thought you were dead" they said.  "Maybe they were from Newcastle" he quipped.  "Is this Clair they enquired?"  People just seem to have a problem accepting that Clair is no longer a child and is now a married woman. SOMETIMES - [From the album "SOUNDS OF THE LOOP"] THE WAY THINGS USED TO BE - [From the album "FROBISHER DRIVE / IN THE KEY OF G"] Gilbert's piano hero is Fats Domino and he has been in discussion with Fats for about two years with a view to recording a duet.  Fats poor health prevents this from happening at the moment but Gilbert is hopeful that it will happen one day.  Gilbert and Mick were joined on stage by a local musician Archie Brown playing the tenor saxophone. WHAT'S IN A KISS? - [From the album "OFF CENTRE"] FOREVER WONDERING - [From the album "FROBISHER DRIVE"] Gilbert and Mick were joined on stage by a local musician Archie Brown playing the tenor saxophone. DOESN'T IT MAKE YOU SICK (MORTAR AND BRICK) - [From the album "SINGER SOWING MACHINE"] Gilbert told us that he constantly on the lookout for ideas for song titles and this was a case in point.  He thought that this was a great title for a song.  After almost 40 years writing songs he firmly believes that a writer should write to please themselves and not others HOLD ON TO WHAT YOU GOT - [From the album "BY LARRY / THE LITTLE ALBUM"] Mick played accompaniment on accordion, an instrument that Gilbert has grown to love after being less than fond of it as a child THUNDER AND LIGHTNING - [From the album "HIMSELF"] Archie Brown returned on saxophone and played a brilliant solo. THE INTERVAL WAS FROM 9.50 p.m. UNTIL 10.10 p.m. 2nd HALF A FRIEND OF MINE - [From the album "I'M A WRITER NOT A FIGHTER"] ME - [From the album "IRLISH"] Gilbert informed us that he didn't know what this song was about despite being the composer.  He sees himself as a third person when he writes. SAY GOODBYE - [From the album "IRLISH"] It appears that not only are there Japanese and Spanish versions of this song but there are French and Portuguese versions as well.  Gilbert recited the chorus of each version.  Somebody asked when he was going to do a Geordie (Newcastle) version.  He'll have to work on it he said. WATER MUSIC - [From the album "IRLISH"] Gilbert introduced this song by explaining how he got the idea for it.  A few years ago his drummer had a cassette tape of sounds and rhythms that some people had recorded of everyday activities from around the world.  The basis of this song is the rhythmic sound made by women washing clothes on the rocks at the riverside in the Peruvian jungle.  He assured us that the women had been paid to use the sounds although they didn't receive much from Gilbert's sales. "They probably would have been happier if Elton John used the sounds" WHO WAS IT? - [From the album "BACK TO FRONT"] Gilbert danced around while singing this song while Mick swapped over to Gilbert's keyboard.  Gilbert played some sound effects on Mick's synthesizer during the break in the song; breaking glass, dogs barking, cows mooing etc.  For fun Gilbert pretended to sing to one of the empty boxes at the side of the stage.  It was nice to see that he hadn't lost his sense of humour despite the low turnout. After the song was over and Gilbert and Mick had returned to their respective keyboards a female voice from the audience was heard to say "I'm over here" meaning that if you want to sing to me I'm over here.  Gilbert stopped what he was doing, stood up and as Mick played the last verse of the song again he sang to the fan.  It was a great moment. THE MARRIAGE MACHINE - [From the album "A STRANGER IN MY OWN BACK YARD"] Gilbert lamented the sad loss earlier this year of one of his heroes Spike Milligan.  He loved Spike's zany sense of humour and wordplay.  Gilbert recited a verse of one of his own poems: Watching Smalltropp's goalie Let in another ball Reminds me of the time When I fell down a waterfall etc..... MR. MOODY'S GARDEN Gilbert it seems has a great fondness for this song which was his second single.  "My first single was called Disappear which it did" He likes to sing the early songs as they evoke memories of the time and as an example he explained the line in the song: "Now down among the partridge trees Lives a Don who loves his knees" It appears that Don Partridge was a busker in London in the 60's who ended up having a chart hit. WHAT COULD BE NICER (MUM THE KETTLE'S BOILING) - [From the album "BACK TO FRONT"] Gilbert is a reggae fan. He said that it is nice to put a reggae beat to one of his own songs but he didn't think that he could write a reggae song specially.  He then thought about it for a moment and remembered that he has a half written reggae song which he played for us. "Maid Marion left the room...... It could be anyone etc..." ALONE AGAIN (NATURALLY) ENCORE MATRIMONY - [From the album "HIMSELF"] GET DOWN - [From the album "I'M A WRITER NOT A FIGHTER"] Gilbert finished the show with the usual song but without the customary standing on the keyboard. THE SHOW ENDED AT 10.55 p.m.