Belinda Carlisle - Saturday 3rd October - Brighton, St George's Church

A new venue for me. It's good to see some working churches being put to addition use within their community and this looked a very pleasant venue whilst the support was on. However, the problem with a non-purpose built venue became apparent as soon as Belinda hit the stage and the audience stood up. She is not exactly a tall lady (particular in the flat shoes she wears for shows) and the "stage" was less than a foot tall. The result meant that no-one beyond the front 5 rows could see a thing. I was half way back and at 6ft 3" could only get a flash of reddish hair occasionally. Everyone was in the same position and so we all did what a typical middle-aged British crowd would do - moved ourselves to somewhere we could see - ie down the front.

The security didn't quite know what to do. On one hand people refused to go back to their seats and one the other, there was absolutely no risk to Belinda or the band. A happy truce was reached where security just tried to keep the aisles clear - with mixed results.

Once we were able to see, the show was great. Belinda looked and sound fabulous and the setlist was full of hits. One other slight disappointment was that whilst she did play one encore, she didn't reappear for the scheduled second one printed on the setlist. I am seeing her again next week in London and really looking forward to it.

Setlist
Runaway Horses
(We Want) The Same Thing
I Get Weak
Circle in the Sand
In Too Deep
Bonnie and Clyde
California
Vision of You
La Luna
Summer Rain
Valentine
Leave a Light On
Heaven Is a Place on Earth
Big Scary Animal
We Got the Beat 
Live Your Life Be Free