As the lights go down

Once again the concert hall darkened and the lights started flashing out through the curtain before it dropped, to reveal a more stylishly dressed Nick, a more enthusiastic Simon and an equally cool Warren.

From start to finish, this show was a delight to witness, and yes, it helped that we were in row 5 this time. The band was definitely more into it; Simon was clearly enjoying himself, especially when he got the entire crowd to sing along!! As for the audience here, there were definitely more die-hard fans around us which always adds to the fun, but the two drunk guys behind us spoiled it a bit for Esther.

Yes, it was still a greatest hits tour and we could certainly have done without Is There…, AVTAK, All She Wants Is and (oh no!) The Reflex, but there was so much else to compensate for that. The crowd was jumping up and down during Friends of Mine, Careless Memories had such a lot of energy to it, Electric Barbarella was deliciously poppy and by the time we got to Girls on Film, we were almost out of our breath and losing our voices.

Tessa Niles joined the band for Come Undone on this night of the tour only. We've heard her perform the song live before and have been disappointed, but this time she put so much emotion into the song that it was very, very beautiful. Another surprise was Andy Hamilton turning up to play the saxophone in Rio. To see someone from that long ago in the band's history and to see him so obviously having a great time was wonderful.

One of our favourite moments during the concert was the first encore, Secret Oktober. We'd taken sparklers with us for this song, but the over-present officials decided they were too dangerous (which is why they're the kind of fireworks you give to young children...). However, it was still amazing to finally hear that song played live after all these years.