Belfast

Belfast is warm today and has been for the past week I'm told. Brilliant sunshine lifts my somewhat heavy mood as I saunter around a park, alone but content.I'm out on the Shirley Bassey tour, opening the evening for 28 shows. On the evidence of the first few nights ( in Bournmouth ) it was going to be a very long tour. Their were complaints from the audience about the way I was dressed and the fact that I wasn't a comedian!! It was suggested kindly that I might wish to wear trousers from now on. I thought hard about this. I mean, wasn't I giving in if I did this? But then I mused on the need to enter into a 'culture' in order to communicate with it sometimes and comforted myself with this thought as I visited 'Next' the next dayI'm being as polite as I can on stage, trying to engage this 'generation before mine' audience. It occurs to me that there were never many singers who sang about issues, causes, until people like Woodie Guthrie and Bob Dylan did so I guess, and perhaps Shirley's audience are not used to it.That having been said Belfast has been very receptive and I have enjoyed the shows here a lot more. The 'Belfast Newsletter' described me as 'the perfect warm up'…hmm. Not much more to report at this stage, at least none I could print! Ask me next time we meet. Did get fog delayed for six hours at Luton airport on Tuesday but just made it to the show in time. Visited the Ulster museum today..very nice