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I knew Elkie was doing this gig but I hadn't secured any tickets as it was well away from where I would normally travel to for a concert. However some tickets became available through Elkie's Fan Club courtesy of Dave West who runs the club. The memorable thing about tonight was the fact that a DVD recording was being made.

Two tickets were collected from the box office and we were ushered to our seats not once but four times…the ushers at the venue were hopeless and it wasn't just me and my wife who had this indignity to suffer. The Empire should get a grip. Sadly the final seats we were allocated were probably the worst in the house for viewing so we stood for the whole concert which had dire consequences for my Olympus digital camera as I knocked it with my hand and it bounced down the steps, wrecking the lens!

That's life and it didn't phase me or spoil the concert which was excellent to say the least. I got my usual buzz as Elkie made her way to the centre of the stage, she looked stunning in a long black dress, slashed across the shoulder. Elkie is a warm hostess too, you always feel welcome and she comes over like an old friend, she's wonderful.

Her first song was the old favourite, I Think I'm Going Back, full of feeling and in a driving slow tempo. The band behind her, featuring a very enthusiastic male backing trio, were brilliant. Elkie's unique voice ringing though the theatre to thrill the captive audience reminded me why I had driven the 200 miles to hear it again. I haven't seen Elkie sing live for over 10 years but it was worth the wait!

The truly beautiful song Superstar (Don't You Remember You Told Me You Loved Me Baby) was next, featuring effortless notes poured emotionally from Elkie's vocal chords. This is quite a roller coaster of a song with it's ups and downs, it's so good. Between songs Elkie told us that the next was produced by Leiber and Stoller in the 1970's.The title is Sunshine After The Rain. It's a great song and saw Elkie bathed in golden lights whilst she took the song through it's paces. When you analyse Elkie's style and the way she performs and how she treats a song, she really is exceptional.

Chris Rea's Fool If You Think It's Over was next. Probably more people associate this with Elkie than they do Chris Rea and it was another fine inclusion to the set. Showcasing other composers work is a speciality of Elkie's and the inclusion of Gallagher and Lyle's Runaway was no exception. A slow song with a strong chorus it was well received by the ecstatic audience.

Elkie admitted that she stole this next song from Kim Wilde and this title was given to a CD album in the mid nineteen eighties I remember (easy to remember, it's in my CD collection!) This song is No More The Fool and features Elkie with as strong a vocals as when she originally sang it. There were some nice bass licks and excellent percussion in Don't Cry Out Loud, the Elkie classic. The pianist/keyboardist should also be complimented for his contribution on this song. A good song. Keeping in the Pearls era came Lilac Wine and saw subtle purple-lilac lighting illuminate our heroine at stage centre. The song through it's entirety was fabulous and featured a wonderful and lengthy outro.

One song I was pleased to hear, which had the audience clapping and stamping to the beat was Gasoline Alley (Bred). Elkie does this song a power of good with her rich vocals. Fantastic!

One of my favourite songs in the whole world of music is when Elkie performs Nights in White Satin! Sadly Mike Cahan's guitar appeared to be down in the mix and from where I was stood, it spoiled the song . However Elkie and the rest of the band took this song to a peak where “The Moment” comes and I go hot and cold all over, all at the same time! Elkie's vocals on this song are so powerful, it thrilled me once again. It was such a shame about the guitar being down in the mix. The guitarist Mike Cahan to be fair, is no mug either; he's a very good player . No matter, this brilliant song took us to the interval and time to recap on a fabulous first set.

As the band returned for the second set seeing a costume change for Elkie, and she looked fabulous too with her hair looking full and naturally coloured and a raunchy skirt and top showing her well-toned figure. She introduced a guest guitar player and it was none other than Geoff Whitehorn, Elkie's musical director of twenty years ago. He also happens to be one of my favourite guitar players and has played alongside The Who and Paul Rodgers, such is his standing in the rock world. The band played that wonderful Jimi Hendrix blues, Red House. This was amazing and I've always said “Pearls a Singer…..but Elkie Rocks” and so she did this particular night. Geoff and Mike Cahan took solo spots in turn and the song was a complete success. Mike Cahan's guitar was transformed from the first set and played some superb blues licks. I noticed during the interval that he had a fiddle about with his amplifier and the difference was amazing.

More blues followed with Paul Rodgers' Muddy Waters tribute ,Muddy Water Blues a great song and one easily performed to an amazingly high standard by Elkie and her band. This was how I came to wreck my camera, feverishly writing notes, enjoying the song and knocking my camera down the Shepherds Bush Empires steep steps…Argh! I didn't care though, these blues just made me feel so mellow, I couldn't be annoyed with myself!

After the statement I wrote earlier about Pearl , it was indeed time to see Elkie transform to sing Pearls a Singer! Probably more people in the UK associate this with Elkie than anything else. This jaunty and truly nice song had them dancing in the aisles and went down very well with the fanatical audience. Fabulous!

Then came another Paul Rodgers song, as Elkie introduced her son Joey to sing Shooting Star. Dressed very smartly in a white suit the youngster made no more ado and dramatically and entertainingly polished off this fine Paul Rodgers song to great applause. He's a fine looking lad and I hope he has success in the future. He sang very well indeed and had Geoff Whitehorn in his corner helping out with some great guitar work.

Back on stage Elkie was soon back in rocky blues mode as the infectious rhythm of Roadhouse Blues was struck up by this fabulous band. Elkie suddenly transcended the decades to remind me of what Vinegar Joe were all about! Her stance at the microphone had all the attitude of a rock star and this is my favourite Elkie façade, I love to see and hear her like this, for me this is the true Elkie.With the mike stand above her head posturing like the rock babe I consider her to be, she thrilled me with a fantastic rendition of this rock/blues perennial. Wild applause followed as the band left the stage but an encore which included Out Of The Rain sent these dedicated fans home with a feeling of satisfaction. I will certainly buy the DVD when it is available, the performance was brilliant and I can't wait to see another performance live. It was a memorable night.