My last BJ concert was Koheupt in Melbourne, 21 years ago. So I was thrilled to be attending his first solo tour in Melbourne since like, 1994. We had poor seats, but simply being in the arena was good enough for me.

There is always that moment when you wonder, 'what will he play'? But I figured, I knew pretty much everything, so it was just be degrees of enjoyment.

Well, it's always a good start when first out of the box is Angry Young Man, a somewhat lesser known track, but one of my faves. Followed surprisingly by a very upbeat, rocked up version of My Life, which blew me away. At this moment, a lovely gentleman from the venue management, upgraded our tickets to be lower level, with a front on view. That was awesome, as we were able to enjoy the rest of the almost solid 2 hours on stage from a good vantage point.

From there, it was hit after hit, covering mainly his old stuff, which was a real thrill to me, including Scenes from an Italian Restaurant, The Entertainer, Always a Woman, Allentown, New York State of Mind, and even You May Be Right, whilst also touching River of Dreams and We Didn't Start the Fire, his only two post '82 offerings (Christmas In Fallugia aside).

His repartee with the crowd was fun, and his overall performance was energetic, and oozed quality and class from the get-go. Despite nearing 60, his voice received much less assistance from his quality backing singers than I expected, hitting those glorious high notes with not much sign of strain.

To me, it was better than Koheupt, and proved that not only is he the greatest singer/songwriter of this era, he is a consummate showman, and musician of the highest order.

I look forward to his return to OZ.