Year Of The Cat

Or, more pertinently, “year of the wait”. Tickets were booked in December 2020 to see Al Stewart and his band Empty Pockets, in October 2021. You remember December 2020 - we hoped covid was over but then got plunged back into lockdown, which triggered the inevitable “this concert has been postponed to 2022” email.
But it was well worth the wait. The band were the support act as well as being Al’s backing band and very good they were too. So much so that we bought their CDs in the interval and listened to them on the way home.
The concert was a mix of interesting stories and great music - something we’ve come to expect from Al Stewart. A slight hitch when an acoustic guitar wouldn’t play through the PA, which resulted in some rapid juggling of wires and pedals by the lead guitarist, before he gave up and played his part on a Strat instead. Not only did he come in on time but he even managed to make it sound vaguely like an acoustic guitar in the process! The next track though definitely needed a “proper” acoustic guitar, so there was a very slight pause in proceedings whilst the problem was solved. Mr Stewart did not look impressed though and I suspect words were had with the sound guy afterwards!
We had our CDs signed by the band after the show (Al had pre-signed his stuff and did not come out to meet the hoi-polloi) and the bass guitarist shook my hand when he found out I also played the bass. The fact that I had just asked for his signature by referring to him as “the most important member of the band” may also have helped!