Gilbert O’Sullivan is an artist who does not tour often so it was no surprise that the venue was full. His influence on today’s pop acts is immeasurable from the Beautiful South to Mika. With such a strong back catalogue of work to choose from it was always going to be difficult knowing which songs to sing and which to leave out. His 11 piece band recreated his songs perfectly with the two backing singers completing his voice. Seeing himself as a songwriter and lyricist in the tradition of  Ray Davies most of his lyrics have an English viewpoint and observation. Who else could write a song about the British obsession with Tea?

His last album, Gilbertville, released last year received glowing reviews in the press and hearing some of the tracks off that album tonight you can see why. With the mood moving from jazz to pop to soul there was a lot of his influences on display. Of course it was the old favourites such as Nothing Rhymed, Alone Again (Naturally), Clair and Get Down that showed how good his songs are and how they have stood the test of time. Standing on top of his grand piano for the encore of Get Down the 2 hour show seemed to pass by far too quickly.