Surely no star gets a warmer welcome than David Essex each time he returns to Croydon.

Even before he has walked on stage the faithful have taken their positions down the front to get as close to the man as possible.

He never disappoints, but with a back catalogue as impressive as his it must be a hard task to pick songs for his set. There are always favourites which get left out, for example this time A Winter's Tale and Oh What A Circus were absent.

But never mind. We had so many golden oldies, including If I Could with all its romantic responses from the fans and some quirky new lines from David about bendy buses and houses in Purley. I'm not sure what to make of his references of visits to Lunar House though!

As always, we sang along with Hold Me Close and Gonna Make You A Star.

There was a serious feel to the first half of the set, which included one of my favourites - the protest song Imperial Wizard with its insistent marching rhythm and drum beats.

The bass was so powerful throughout it felt as if a mini earthquake was rumbling beneath my feet and the set featured the most elaborate and colourful lighting design ever for a David Essex concert tour.

He has been busy with stage work in recent years, a starring role in Aspects of Love followed by a lengthy tour his own musical All The Fun of the Fair inspired by his first album.

This will be going into the West End in April, he confided.

Who knows when he will be available to make another concert tour? But when he does it would be great if he could dispense with the support act and play the whole evening himself: he's got enough material to fill a week never mind an evening and the fans would just love it!

Diana Eccleston

5 stars