My daugter is also called "Vashti"

TOM BAXTER - LIVE AT THE VILLAGE

I'd never been to The Village before, so I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was a pretty decent venue (apart from the fact that is was hot as HELL the whole night!). The stage was moderately sized, but there was plenty of room to stand around. The crowd was also nice on the night, no pushing or shoving to speak of (even though my bro insisted we stand up near the front!).

Tom came out at the start, casual as you like, to introduce his warm-up act. "Vashti", who I'd never heard of before, turned out to be his sister (from the name I expected it to be either a band, or a man!). She was dressed exactly like how I'd picture a stereotypical French girl would dress (red neckerchief, polka dot dress, tight spandex pants cut off just before the ankles). Just like her big bro, she had a great big voice on her and a lot of emotion behind the lyrics. She was pleasant enough, but none of the songs grabbed me enough to shell out on her album (copies of which were laid out on a table near the bar).

When Tom and his band finally emerged, they kicked things off with a rousing version of "Night Like This", the opening track to his new album "Skybound". What I was amazed at (and I think he was too) was that most of the crowd knew the words to his new material (or the chorus's at least!), despite the fact that the album is so far only available from his online website. He continued on with a couple more tracks from the new album, along with a few from his first. Sadly, he didnt sing "The Mood & Me", my fav song from "Feather & Stone" :( I was sure he'd bring it out during the encore, but it wasn't to be......

My only complaints would be that there wasn't a whole lot of audience interaction going on, but Tom was on fine form throughout the night, putting everything into his performance. Of course he couldn't resist a few over-the-top, uber-dramatic moments during some of the songs, but its easy to forgive such indulgences :P He is one of the few artists I think sounds as good, if not better live than on CD, so I would heartily encourage everyone to go see him in person if they ever get the chance.

His album is currently available from his website for the low low price of £10.00 (plus P&P) or £7.49 as a digital download.

www.tombaxter.co.uk