Birmingham - 17th February 2008

Last night was completely amazing! Of course I don't expect any less but it would be a pretty poor account of events if I just wrote 'the usual.. met expectations'.. and in fact it would be a little untrue! No matter how many times I see Darren live, he ALWAYS amazes me at some point, be it by his voice (flawless.. and this tour sounding better than ever) or how long he can hold notes (seriously long amount of time) or just the notes he can reach! At one point he let out an extremely high pitched 'woo' which put my brother and I's high pitch squealing competition we had the other day to shame. The thing is, though me and my brother managed to sound like cats being strangled, Darren still manages to be pitch perfect - it really does amaze!

Anyway! Last night was at the academy 2, which despite being as small as a postage stamp, has a stage a little bigger than the Manchester and Bristol venues had. There seemed to be loads more lights and the stage looked really pretty. The pre-show music was much louder last night than it has been, which was good as I finally was able to hear and appreciate the songs picked out! Admittedly most I could not recognise lol, but actually being able to hear the music made the waiting time seem to go quicker, either that or my discussion with Charlotte that she really needs to come to the last London gig ;)

As I was standing a little closer to the left hand speaker I was able to pick up more on Steves guitar (who really is quite fantastic) and just in general get a better appreciation of the backing sound. Darren sounded amazing and as funny and sweet as ever. He seemed to have a little trouble reading the setlist and asked for Steve to play the loop for Mine a couple of times in the wrong place and made a joke that he should be wearing his glasses all the time because his eyesight was getting bad as he was getting older and he couldn't see it! He also remarked on how it was terrible that he couldn't get the order right as it was the 7th time! When it really was time for the loop for Mine he made a show of saying that at least he was paying attention to the setlist and knew where things were lol. 100 Challenging Things last night seemed extra beautiful, as did Darrens explanation preceeding it.
Dirty was brilliant! He added bits of Vogue and Prince's Kiss which was extremely exciting! The bit from Quake was removed though, which is quite funny as me and my Mum have been practicing the 'We Do!' response bit as noone seems to do it and usually we get swept along with the moment and don't remember to do it fast enough! I really love Dirty on this tour, it is so cool how he adds little bits in from everywhere, and it always sounds fantastic.
There was another brilliant performance of Casey, and Darren looked really chuffed when everyone was singing along. I can't wait to get the downloads as it always sounds special, and everytime I get the shiver! When Darren introduced the song after Casey he remarked on the singing saying 'and this is Sing To Me which you all do so well!'.
Darren remarked a few times on how he liked being around the Brummie accent and that he liked Brummies! And he was glad he was doing two concerts as being around the Brummie accent more could only be a good thing!
After he came back on for the encore, he said how he really wanted to thank everyone for turning up, and for everything, and how he knew he wouldn't be there if it wasn't for everyone. He said that he didn't know how he could ever thank everyone enough for helping him to reach his dreams and that he owed a lot. It was so sweet, he also mentioned about taking a break but 'I promise, I will always come back'. He then sung Unloveable with Steve on the electric guitar rather than.. well I'd guess acoustic guitar he usually uses but my knowledge on different guitars isn't too wide! It sounded amazing and perhaps because it had followed his little speech more emotional than ever, pure brilliance!
He finished off with the So Beautiful remix which I still think is the perfect end to the perfect show, it just rounds things off really well.
Other things.. Setting Sun was as great as ever, I still completely love that song, and have decided that I want a keytar now lol. I Don't Care is another of my favourites of the tour, I think everyone clapping and singing along emphasises the themes of the song, and it just sounds brilliant every time.

So once again, a definite WOW, amazing show! Can't believe it's nearly all over and I only have London left!