Spellbinding

It was a glorious day again. Just a few iffy clouds to punctuate the blue sky. Temperatures were very comfortable in the mid-20s.

There was a tournament being played at the Arun Sports Arena and almost every pitch was in use. There were people everywhere. We managed to get our usual game in, though it did start 30 minutes later than usual. The Gorse Fox had used this delay to do some more family tree research on Pistol Pete's family. He's making good progress but suspects there's lots more to find.

Football was difficult as the sides were uneven, made more so by our striker deciding he wished to play in goal during the second half. He's not a great striker - but he's a worse goalie. Our half-time 3-2 winning position became about a 12-4 deficit by the end of the game. The Gorse Fox did manage to score a couple along the way, but found the whole thing rather irritating.

The afternoon saw us heading across to Brighton to meet up with the Silver Vixen's cousin, Trevor (Rick Wakeman) and his wife Sue. They have been doing some renovations in the kitchen, but despite the fact they are not finished, invited us for dinner. As ever, their hospitality was warm and the dinner was lovely. This, however, was just the prelude. We had tickets, you see.

We headed down into the town and parked behind the art college (free after 6pm). We strolled across to sit in one of the squares, soaking up the sunshine and enjoying a coffee before wandering along to the Theatre Royal. The Gorse Fox first saw Ellie Brookes when she sang with Robert Palmer in Vinegar Joe at a pub called The Salisbury, in Barnet. This must have been 1970-ish. He has little or no recollection of the event, but knows that he he was hooked on her voice ever since. Vinegar Joe broke up and Ellie Brookes now performs with her own backing band, and even at the age of 72 looks and sounds fantastic.

The show was simply spellbinding. The performed many of her past hits and blended in some new songs and covers.

We had tracks such as: Pearl's a Singer, Don't Cry Out Loud, Fool if You Think It's Over, Nights in White Satin, Lilac Wine, Roadhouse Blues, Night Moves, Purple Rain, Gasoline Alley, and many more.

The Gorse Fox knew he would enjoy the concert. What he wasn't expecting was a concert that turned out to be one of the very best he has ever been to. Simply stupendous.