I knew this was going to be a bit different from previous concerts as when I bought my ticket, they asked me what time I wanted to arrive. Now I knew I was a big fan, but I didn't really expect Beverley to wait for me! You can't book specific seats at Ronnie Scott's, so I made sure I got there nice and early. At the desk, I was given a choice - "you can sit right at the front or right at the back". That was a hard one! So I found myself with one of the best seats in the house - on a table literally right up against the small stage. I couldn't have had a better seat if I'd been able to arrange a private performance in my own front room! Beverley came on stage just after nine. Although only a small stage, the absence of a drummer left plenty of room. The saxophone player (almost sitting at one couple's table), and electric guitarist Ian Bairnson, were to the left of the stage; with Beverley naturally at centre, and the bass guitarist on the right. However, I saw nothing of the bass player all evening as he was permanently hidden from my view by the raised lid of the Yamaha piano. Beverley's introductions to her songs revealed some new facts. She told us that unusually for her, Come Home to Me is about no-one in particular; and revealed that the same friend who inspired Two of a Kind on her debut album, also inspired She Doesn't Need Saving on the new album - this friend had a record deal which fell through, and a boyfriend who dumped her, so some mutual friends decided a 'rescue package' was called for, but Beverley didn't agree and so She Doesn't Need Saving was born. The new song Phoenix from the Fire is about the same girlfriend who inspired Woman to Woman. Injecting a little humour whilst introducing one song as being about a friend, Beverley told us: "there's a song about my dog later on because I'm running out of friends". There was a twenty minute interval during the performance - just as well as the heat (on what turned out to be the hottest night of the year upto then) was obviously getting to her. After the interval they launched straight into Holding On (I have yet to hear Beverley introduce this song). I took the opportunity between songs in the second part of the performance to take some photos. Unfortunately, this was the first time I had used my new camera in dark conditions, so some of the photos are a bit lacking in the timing department! I Miss You was introduced as the first single from Mixed Emotions and we were told that it would be released at the end of July or during August. After 'finishing' with Promise Me, Beverley returned for a solo rendition of I Listen to the Rain. The compere wound up by telling us that she would be back at Ronnie Scott's "later in the year"! A wonderful evening made all the more so by the intimacy of the venue. This was the penultimate date of the tour and Beverley was visibly more confident on stage than at the Radio 2 concert the previous November, which had undoubtedly been a bit of a culture shock after several years out of the limelight. After the concert I managed to have a word with Ian Bairnson. He revealed that there was originally a drummer with the tour, but after the first two gigs there was a date he couldn't do. They went ahead without a drummer, and it sounded so good that they decided to do the rest of the tour without drums. Chris Ward