We met Riverway again on the Sunday morning before leaving Birmingham, including Ronan the lead singer who had gone early to bed the previous night. Thanks again guys, hope we didn’t hold you back.

Riverway had been great so far and they made things even better for the Dutch Clan at Sheffield by dedicating their cover of U2’s song ‘One’ to them. It was so kind of them, the girls were thrilled although slightly embarrassed but not enough to stop them waving their flags. I was so pleased for them as this was going to be their last gig.

Again I had got hold of some spare 2^nd row tickets for Sheffield and this time Monique accompanied me for the evening.

The lights went out, the music and tension was mounting then ‘The Big Bang’ heralded Marti’s arrival and the slight hush was soon broken by screams and cheers as he emerged from the darkness. The crowd had already been in a frenzy but Sweet Little Mystery and Wishing I Was Lucky got the place even more buzzing and animated.

Two very different songs from ‘Smile’ then gave the crowd a chance to chillout, first of all with All I Ever Wanted then the wonderful Did You Ever Wake Up.

Sheffield gave him a fantastic reception, which Marti was very thankful for. He said he’d been having a 'shit day today' and we were just what he was needing, thank you ! Thank you Marti, it was our pleasure.

The first four minutes of London Life has a very pure and refreshing sound although I must admit I have never really been that keen on the heavy Bowie-esque type ending, as if it had changed direction totally but I guess it fits into the song. Nonetheless the majority of it is a typical song that can be listened to after a hectic day at work, to relieve stress.

A song can be brought so much more to life when performed live and this is a perfect example !

You can visualise the buildings with the hussle and bussle of London Life as everything caves in around an individual who gets lost in a busy lifestyle. During a lighter part of the chorus, 'help me to find . . .' you can picture someone – Marti, standing stationary in the middle of a revolving part of the stage while spotlights pan round the audience and a backdrop of silhouetted skyscrapers. This part especially is so uplifting when you listen to it, just as the lines on the lead up to the chorus are so relaxing and fresh sounding, they clear your mind. As the song gets darker towards the end you can imagine some of the special effects that may occur during a stage show performance of this or just while on tour for that matter. The wind howls in with more dry ice as if dark thundery clouds are looming ominously overhead, you can almost feel the chilliness. It's amazing how certain songs like this can create such imagery. It’s one of those songs that just gets better and better every time you hear it.

It was quite good tonight, because by now we knew how to sing East of the River. Mark Taylor is sheer brilliance on the keyboards with echoes of Jools Holland and Elton John’s ‘jumpy’ style nimble fingered masterpieces.

Next was Marti's new haunting track My Love. With those gorgeous guitar riffs, I can sense an almost Latin American feel coming through. What was that Ten Sharp song called ? - ‘You’, I loved that song and this brought it back to me.

Once again Marti sat on the edge of the stage for Fire and Rain. He was so relaxed tonight in fact that he proceeded to lie back. Yes, flat on his back on the stage, singing the lines ‘won’t you look down upon me Jesus . . .’ roughly through to ‘my body’s aching . . .’. Yes he can pick his moments perfectly, they are definitely OK ;-).

Goodnight Girl and With A Little Help From My Friends had everyone singing along as if it was just yesterday they’d been top of the charts.

Marti paid tribute to John Lennon tonight since it was the anniversary of his death and saying what a wonderful man he had been.

More idyllic guitar riffs at the start of Close To You just take me away. Oh that song can do wonders, if you don’t get screams in the middle of it.

Every time for the line of 'it's a nightmare waiting to happen' in New York Vibe I must admit I averted my eyes downwards. Not that there was any real need for it, I just felt compelled to do so. Before the tour I was worried New York Vibe may have been frowned upon to be performed this tour but I'm glad Marti wasn't put off, it's a brilliant song, so lively, a real crowd goer.

This Moment is OK, is even more so my favourite song now, ever since first hearing it at Putney. I took to it instantly. The lyrics, feel, arrangement and vocals, all ideal. I could listen to this type of song anytime. It is a pity it appears there won’t be another single from Smile, this could have been a prime candidate. However I think that it may end up as one of those songs similar to 'How Long' - so popular but never released. Not too late to be proved wrong on this one though, here's hoping but I doubt it.

The Missing Sound gets you swaying the moment it starts, I'd go so far as to say it has a Detroit / motown feel to it. Even though there is a bit of a beat behind the track live, its distintive sound creates a wondrous serene atmosphere.

The electrifying first few bars of the next song signified Lip Service with Marti jiving and shimmying around next to Marcus on the synthesizer. Yes Marti always sets the roof on fire with this song.

I Can Give You Everything with its definitive dance rhythm grabs the audience's attention even further. Marti certainly knows how to give us everything. The roof was then once again in danger, this time of being lifted off, what with the liveness of Love Is All Around and the crowd’s reaction, we were undoubtedly in full voice tonight.

Marti came back on stage tantalisingly starting the next song with:

'Will you do it for the money', followed up with 'Marti, I'll do you for fun' capturing the audience's imagination no ends. Hmmm - no comment !! ;-)

The latter part of I've Been Around The World sparked off Marti’s main crowd participation for the night.

"Want a sing song, I'll teach you to sing, it's easy peasy." He had every faith in us.

Temptation brought the whole place to its feet, not that many were left sitting by this point and we all joined in. As always another fabulous night was over all too soon.

Unfortunately Sheffield was the end of the road for the dutch girls who headed back up north with me to catch their flight home from Glasgow. I on the other hand had one more to go. Thankfully I had a days breather at home on the Tuesday before packing my bags again (not that I unpacked them ha ha) and flying down to London on the Wednesday with my mum and sister for the Wembley concert the next day.

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