Freddie's return

Before he finished last night's full house gig in the Town Hall Theatre, Freddie White promised that he wouldn't leave it as long to come back again, as the more than two decades since he sang last in Kilcullen, in Berney's back room.






And he asked the organisers, Ray and Fiona Kelly, to 'keep the live music going'. "Otherwise we'll all starve," he added, with his trademark easy grin.

Though the Diary couldn't get there until the second half of the show, it was apparent that it had been a good one. And the audience were, on a smaller scale, like those who filled the O2 for the recent series of Leonard Cohen concerts. Enjoying it, appreciating the old and the new, savouring the revealed soul of the singer.

Our own Roy Thompson opened the show, and Freddie several times paid tribute to the performance of our own local troubadour.

We hope you've already booked them both again, Ray.