Its brave of Bob to go ahead with the concert but some part of me thinks it would be what Cleo would have wanted- Bob to be doing "his thing".

Our little Belgian jaunt began when we met up at Brussels Midi railway station. The girls were there to meet me off the train. We drove to Vilvoorde to our hotel and set off to locate the venue. It was near the hotel, which was great. Then we spied a shock of white hair in the cafe , went in to find Bob, Johnny, Niall and Jim having a break from rehearsals. We offered our condolences, chatted for a while and left them to it. They had been on the Eurostar after my one. When I said I had breakfast in the hotel because I did not know there was one on Eurostar, Bob joked I would eat two anyway because I am Scottish. (I didn't) The gig was in a very nice little theatre. The audience had a good mix of ages of both sexes. Bob came onstage on cue and proceeded to say that his sister had died two days ago and the concert was dedicated to her, in particular the first song, Soft Soil. Vince, who speaks Dutch translated this for the audience. There was an audible groan of shock and sympathy. Bob tried to hold it together, but needed the band to step in a couple of times. There followed a powerful, energetic, electric performance. He sang for them I think, sang his heart out. The band, who are always good, stepped up a notch that night. There was not much chat, which was understandable and the usual banter was missing. He went straight into song after song. The audience were loving it, joining in singing and clapping. He then played the first new song, Heres To You and said the album will definitely be out in January. It is a catchy little number and I am still singing it in my head. He got at least 3 standing ovations from a very appreciative audience. I think it says a lot for him that he still found time to meet and greet, sign autographs and pose for pics. Back to the hotel, which we discovered had a railway line running alongside. Noisy night number 1.

We drove up to Hamont the next day and settled into the aptly named, as it turned out, Hotel De Klok. Joke went to the loo and came back saying come and see what I have found. There glaring down at all the ladies doing what they have to do was a sexy and sultry poster of Bob Geldof, advertising the gig. The Gents were quickly checked and yes, there was one in there too. This was a free day and Joke drove us up to the beautiful Old Dutch town of Maestricht. I spent my time trying to avoid being mowed down by cyclists, but we had a nice afternoon. We ate in a local Italian restaurant in Hamont that night, only to find the tablemats were advertising all the upcoming events, including Bobs and the coasters had his name in bright letters. We had to bring a few souvenirs home, you understand.

How do you sleep when your hotel is sandwiched between a catholic church , with a bell that struck once every quarter and full chimes every hour and a town hall bell tower which played a little tune on the hour. Noisy nights numbers 2 and 3. The morning of the gig, we went to a local monastery, where the monks still make their own beer. Yes, some was purchased. Met up with Katharina and Corinna, who were at the same hotel. Found the venue that afternoon, an unimposing building. It was a working mens pub type hall, full of men enjoying their pint. They outnumbered ladies by 2-1. Standing room only. Bob had just flown back from his sisters funeral that day, so we wondered what he would be like. He seemed more relaxed, chatty and handled a noisy and talkative audience well. (No swearing!) He was not going to do much talking because the audience were doing it for him he said. Mostly the set was the same, but when someone called out Love like a Rocket, he started to sing it. The band wondered what was going on and the look on Petes face was a picture. There was another request, but cant remember what it was. He sang Heres To You again and then straight into Dazzled By You. This was a surprise to the band. He virtually played solo and Vince just stood looking at him, with his hands on his hips. I liked it, but not as much as the other. The audience, some rather merry, were in a good mood by the end and a section decided to have some ceilidh dancing to GSOI. It was all good fun. Meet and greet again and I got a kiss. (Hot flush)

Back down the motorway to Brussels for the Eurostar for me and the girls were going on to Bruges. Noisy nights 4 and 5 for me were a night either end in a hotel near Kings Cross, handy for the train back to Edinburgh. Spent them listening to sirens going up and down Euston Road.

Set List from memory, not necessarily in the right order. May be some I have missed.

SOFT SOIL

GSOI

LOVE OR SOMETHING

MUDSLIDE

SCREAM IN VAIN

HARVEST MOON

DIAMOND SMILES

WALKING BACK TO HAPPINESS

RAT TRAP

MONDAYS

MARY OF THE 4^TH FORM

BANANA REPUBLIC

ONE FOR ME

JOEY

HERES TO YOU

 DAZZLED BY YOU

WHEN THE NIGHT COMES,   GSOI.

A link to a video from Belgian TV. Clips from the gig and an interview.

http://www.een.be/programmas/de-rode-loper/het-leven-begint-op-vijftig

Joke wrote:

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A link to a video from Belgian TV. Clips from the gig and an interview.

http://www.een.be/programmas/de-rode-loper/het-leven-begint-op-vijftig

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