Rhydian at Cadogan Hall

It's fair to say Rhydian Roberts is outside my normal taste band. Too classical for me - indeed his last album duly topped the classical album chart. I wouldn't have come along if I didn't know his brother. But I am glad I did.

And in addition to the operatic stuff he does enough "crossovery" stuff as he put it to satisfy me. What you can't doubt is his astonishing voice. And I really enjoy that being applied to "classics" like Nights in White Satin, or the opening number - U2's "Where the Streets Have No Name". He also had a truly delightful band and backing singers which greatly added to the enjoyment of the evening. Indeed he even left them on stage on their own to complete one track. from the Lion King. They would have been perfectly enjoyable for an evening by themselves.

Cadogan Hall is a lovely venue - not been there before because its a classical venue. But what felt very odd was that my party really lowered the average age of the audience. This was an overwhelmingly pensioner crowd. Which is a pity I feel. I would love to see Rhydian do a mid-afternoon slot at one of the big music festivals. These festivals really suit a change in gear, and he would be brilliant doing just his rock classics, with that massive voice as a counterpoint to the standard indie fare.

And as an encore to finish the evening, despite his voice "being shot" (oh yeah!) he belted out Nessum Dorma. He could do that at a festival too.