it was 19.30 when I came into the Cobden club. I got told I had to go to the top floor to see Oliver perform. So I went up and walked through the door. Some of the few people that were there turned around and looked at me. Almost made me feel like I shouldn't be there **I'm not self-conscious, where did you get that idea?**

I looked at the stage and saw Oliver standing behind his mic. I walked up to a small table and sat down in the chair **the chair was too high for me, go figure** Oliver was wearing comfy clothes, a pair of faded jeans and a blue and white striped shirt. Can't remember the shoes, but I'm guessing dressy sport shoes.

What does what he is wearing have to do with the performance? Well a guy's gotta look good right? it impresses the ladies.  And, besides,  I like looking at what people are wearing.

Some people were already sitting before the stage, but these were people from the band and people that Oliver knew. Probably his friends that came to support him. :) I took out my camera and my pen and notebook, so I could write down stuff I liked for this review **my memory is really bad sometimes.. I always seem to forget more then half of what happened**

Oliver stepped up to the mic and said "Thank you all for coming, it's a great turn out tonight" **insert chirpy crickets here** there were maybe 8 people in the room and we all sniggered. Then he started singing Come On Back to test his microphone *and I sang a long! just hope no one heard* there were some problems with the mic, some really annoying high tones vibrated through the room more then I'd liked **I'm not a fan of those tones** Some guy behind me at the bar was fixing the decibel level. Then they tested Stephanie's microphone. Stephanie was the background singer that evening, although she was standing next to Oli the whole time :) **I don't think there was much space left on stage else where :P there was Ben's keyboard, Mike's guitar, Thuy's guitars, Mark's drum set, some stands for the saxophones and trumpet players, a set of amplifiers, Oliver's microphone... see not much space left**

When they were testing some of the instruments and Steph's mic, Oli almost jumped of stage and walked my way **which basically scared the crap out of me. I was almost sure he was gonna kick me out or something... don't ask me why he would do such a thing anyway** then he passed me and stood against the bar to listen to what we were hearing in the back of the room. I guess the sound on stage is different from off stage?

When the microphones sounded good they tested the drums. Mark played a little solo, which had a really nice beat to it. Ben's keyboard was next. He sat down behind it and played some notes. They were checking both the bottom one and top one. He had two keyboards, but I don't know if he actually touched the top one during the gig... I was too bespelled, I guess.

Then they tried for another song together. This time they took Sentimental Heart ** I love that song** it was really mellow and relaxed. It turned out that Steph's mic was too soft compared to the rest so she asked the guy behind me if he could turn up her mic a little. Then Oli jumped up and said "yeah and mine too? turn up the lead" and he laughed.

There were two guitarist that tested their instruments too. One was the base, I think his name was Mike **or perhaps he was Mark and the drummer was Mike :P** he looked like a rocker. And then there was Thuy **hope I spelled his name right** Thuy played electric guitar and a regular guitar like a pro! Which he was. of course. But I think the most remarkable thing about Thuy must be the fact that he is blind! Yes, you read it correctly, Thuy is blind. But that didn't stop him from putting on a major performance! Oh no, even better, he rocked the house! I don't know what it is with a blind musician, but they seem to have a little extra feeling for their music **or that's just me** Just think of Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, Andrea Bochelli... And now there is Thuy too =D

Thuy, the only blind guitarist I know!

When everybody in the band was happy with their instruments and sounds, the four other people that were playing got to test their instruments as well. Meanwhile, more and more people were coming in to the room. Suddenly I see this curly head of hair that looked really familiar, so I kinda stare at the guy and when  he  turns around I was staring Martin Ball straight in the face. He looked at me and I smiled at him. **yeah I'm chicken shit, because I wanted to say I saw him in Wicked, but I didn't**  I'm sure Martin was there to support his Wicked co-star and friend. They sat down across from me on the cushiony seats.

I was looking at what some of the other girls were wearing and I felt almost over-dressed in my jeans and short sleeved shirt. Most of the girls were wearing mini skirts or tiny dresses. I was actually glad I was wearing jeans, because it wasn't all that warm inside the club **airco and all** But at least the club was beautifully decorated. The stage, though rather small, had a sparkly apple tree on either side **ooh sparkles!** giving the whole place a sort of mystical feeling to it. And seeing as it was pretty dark too **the dimmed lights and the club itself was decorated with dark wood** it felt kind of cozy and mysterious. but of course, that could just be the way that I interpret these things, because I like that kind of stuff.

Then an elderly couple came in, one look at me told me that it was mom and pop Tompsett. There was no mistaken. Both Oli and Ben might have their father's height, but they surely look like their mother. Especially Oliver looks a whole lot like his mother. And you could really see how much the band got along as everybody knew everybody and if not, they were introduced to each other.

At 20.30pm all the bands were back stage to get changed or shake of the nerves or what ever it is they do behind the scenes. And they put on a cd or the radio with some old songs. **I recognized 2 of them so I sang along haha**

At 21.00pm Charley Bickers came one stage first, singing three of his own songs. I never heard of him before. but he was pretty good, had the same sort of voice as Bono from U2. I think I could have enjoyed the music a bit more if the people in front of me stopped taking pictures of themselves and stopped talking. It was kind of distracting for me. After Charley, Rick O'Connell and Owen Cutts came on. Rick played violin and Owen played the guitar. I was really curious about them, because I love the violin. They sang three songs as well. One was pretty up beat and the others a little slower. They sort of reminded me of the Kelly Family. After Rick and Owen another guy came on. His name was Ben Earle and he sang three songs too. I don't remember the titles, but he really blew my mind away. His voice was very similar to Oliver's. Ben first played guitar and then he played Ben Tompsett's keyboard. Ben Earle was really amazing. His songs were slow and very deep and meaningful.

Then after Ben Earle, it was time for the main coarse. Oliver Tompsett and his band of 75 people. No I'm kidding, haha! That was just a joke that the announcer made, but I thought it was funny and it stuck with me. The announcer introduced the band and Oliver said hello to the crowd. There was a roaring applause. They first started with the "album title" as Oliver so perfectly put it. They started with Sentimental Heart. And I have to say, I sang along to everything **yeah I sing along to a lot of things, but I just love singing... not that I'm any good at it** The sound was absolutely perfect! I felt it go through my body so it was almost impossible to sit still.  When they finished with Sentimental Heart, the crowd was cheering and whistling like crazy. I'm positive Oliver loved it because his eyes were sparkling with it. Then they set in with Fell In Love. One of my favorite songs on the album, that melts you down to your toes. So I sat there and swooned and sang a long. It seemed that Oliver had some problems hitting one of the notes, but it could have been the microphone. He still rocked the house anyway. They also did Come On Back and I really have to say they sounded better live than the album. Which sounds kind of weird and I don't mean the album is bad, because I really love the album, but live they just had a little extra something. Oliver also took it to himself to introduce the band. Mike, Mark, Ben, then his horn section **which sounds really bad to say haha, even Oli agreed to that!** And then he introduced Stephanie and the whole room was quiet. Then Steph said her last name and we all laughed. Oliver went like "I know your last name! I was just waiting for the crowd to react." So he blamed us for the lack of response, but we were really waiting for him to say her last name. But after that she got the applause she deserved, because she was really awesome. Then it also turned out that he gave the wrong name for his Sax player and he forgot about Thuy **someone from the crowd shout asked who his other guitar player was**. So he made jokes about it saying it didn't matter who they were and I quote "It's all about me anyway!" and then he introduced them correctly.

After that there was a 20 minute break again, so everybody got go to the bathroom or get a drink.

After the break Charley came back on and sang four more songs, some of them were really new so we had to forgive him if he screwed up **his words, not mine** They sounded really good, very nice beat and rhythm. Then Rick and Owen came back on. I had to go to the bathroom so i just ran for the door and almost ALMOST knocked Oliver in the face. **hides in shame** It's a good thing he opened the door at the time for another girl and she opened her own door, so I could slide in beThuyn them, to the bathroom.

When I came back Rick and Owen were still there ** I can go really fast if I have to haha** so I got to enjoy the rest of their songs. And then Ben Earle came back on. playing another song on his guitar and on Ben Tompsett's keyboard. He made a comment in beThuyn how much he loved it that some people had come up to him and commented him on how much they liked his songs, so he dedicated one of them to Sarah **one of the girls in the audience** which was really sweet. I really think you should check out Ben Earle, you'll like his music I'm sure. I saw Oliver's girlfriend was also there to support him on his first live gig. Which is really sweet I guess and Oliver seemed to be happy about it too. I mean who wouldn't be right? Your loved ones supporting you all the way?

And then Oliver and his band of 75 were back on stage. They started off with One More Day. According to Oliver there was a Top Gun **the movie with Tom Cruise as a jet pilot** reference in the song and we had to see if we could spot it. So then he turned around, giving his back to the crowd and some one whistled. So Oliver turned around quickly and said in a mock annoyed voice "not that!" The crowd laughed again, of course **Oli could always try stand up comedy haha** So during One More Day Thuy went in to a sort of Solo and Oliver joined him by playing air guitar and later on bowing down to Thuy's greatness.

After that Oliver took the mic and walked around stage, he introduced his next song as "This next song was written by my very talented brother... Bob" the whole audience burst out laughing again. We all knew he meant his brother Ben. Even Ben was laughing, but I'm just wondering if he got revenge on Oliver. They played the song, I sang along, enjoyed each and every word of it.

The Oli announced they were playing their last song Shame. And the whole crowd went "aw". I guess no one wanted the night to end. We were all having way too much fun. But the song rocked! Oli was amazing and he got the most applause ever. People were whistling and screaming and howling and clapping... And then Oliver said "keep clapping if you want another song" so we did. We all clapped even louder then humanly possible.

The last song started with the trumpet and saxophones. And the crowd went absolutely WILD! Femme Fatale! probably the most swinging and danceable song on the album and by far my most favorite. So I went wild as well, singing along and dancing in my seat. They blew the roof off with that last song. The riffing was amazing, the saxophones blew me away, the crowd went wild with screams and howling. I'm lucky I didn't go deaf!

And afterwards, Oli said his thank you's to everybody and they went off stage. And then I had to grab my stuff and run for the train. Although I would have looooved to stay and talk to Oliver and compliment him on the show and to say I was representing his Street Team there. But it was a little later then I expected.

When I was walking towards the train station, I heard footsteps behind me all the way, going the same way as I was. Like I was being stalked, haha. Not that I was scared or something, I was too high on the music still. And when I was on the platform and I turned around, I saw Martin Ball and his girlfriend there **awwww** so I was being stalked by the old Goat. But it's okay, he's cool.