Hi, all,

Just wanted to mention that we went to see Mr Bragg last night in Southampton, and it was brilliant... I was a bit perturbed when we arrived and it was a seated concert, rather than a rowdy standing gig (the last two times I've seen him it has been a standy shouty affair) but we soon cheered up when we realised that because we'd booked so early (last year some time), we had front row seats... what an opulent lifestyle...!

Jill Sobule was a real revelation... we hadn't ever heard of her, and although we all utterly failed to sing along to the sing along bits (being steadfastly Hampshire English with all that entails, and also laughing far too hard to catch a breath) the missus and I hurried to buy her CD at the intermission. She even manages to be funny when most songwriters would get all serious and maudlin, and we had to love her for that.

Billy was totally superb, and his storytelling skills and audience interplay were every bit as funny and vibrant as they have been when I've seen him before. I was slightly concerned when he opened with Sexuality, simply because he looked quite bored or tired, but he started to warm up after a couple of songs, and made the audience wait until a second encore for A New England. To be honest, if it had been me, I'd have done the same out of bloody-mindedness, as it seemed to be the only song that the harmless but persistent drunken hecklers shouted for... the git in me would have wanted to make them stay conscious and frustrated till the end.
It occured to me that both the first and last songs he played were ones that I associate with Kirsty Maccoll, and I wonder if this is a coincidence or a sort of silent tribute (I'm stretching a little, because I think she sang backing vocals on several of his songs, not just Sexuality).

I did note that where previously Billy has felt the need to explain his inclusion of New England in the set to the audience, saying that it just didn't seem relevant to his life any more without family-friendly amendments (about which I think he was only half joking) he didn't do that at all last night, leaving the song unchanged from his original save for a verse that he dedicated to Kirsty.

I couldn't help but be moved by that. I love that song, but it's impossible to hear it without feeling a little sad about the tragedy that's tied to it.