What shall I wear???

I always knew that once I returned from Pittsburgh all of my attention would focus on my Golden Jubilee Concert at the Swansea Arena on the 3^rd October. It wasn’t just another case of procrastination.  Obviously, some things have to be planned months in advance, from booking the venue and planning the advertising campaign to making sure the band all have the dates in their diaries.

There are just so many other decisions you can only make in the last few weeks up to the concert.  I had spoken to a number of artiste friends to see if they might be free to join me on the night but of course if they are good they are busy.  Day by day they are juggling their own commitments alongside my request. Now with 3 weeks to go they are in a position to confirm their availability.

The first guest to be announced was Elio Pace.  Elio’s show, ‘The Billy Joel Songbook’, has just completed a Nationwide tour including the Wales Millennium Centre and the London Palladium.  I guested on Elio’s last night of the tour in the Bloomsbury Theatre in London back in May. The show was being recorded by BBC Radio.

Elio agreed in principle at the end of that concert that night, but we decided to make the announcement to coincide with his radio broadcast. At the time Elio thought it would be a quieter few weeks for him.  Of course another booking then came in and he now has a commitment in Scotland in the days after The Arena.  Luckily he can just about make it to the airport in time on the day after my show to fly to his next gig.

I have been working with Ria Jones over the last 12 months, writing songs together and starting work on her new album recording with the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra.  Over the past few months she’s had concerts In Spain and London.  I’ve been keeping my fingers crossed for weeks and finally last week she gave us the green light.

If I’m honest I probably took Steve Balsamo for granted.  The man with the golden voice is more than just a friend.  We’ve performed together everywhere from the House of Commons to the Grand Theatre stage.  It was only when I was chatting with Ian Parsons, the show’s producer, that I realised I hadn’t actually asked Steve properly.  Fair play, Steve said he knew I’d ask and had the date already pencilled in.

I’m still waiting on one more artist to let me know but in essence I think the show itself is pretty much there. Now comes the next big question…what am I going to wear?

Port Talbot has been on my mind a lot lately.  Pittsburgh is a city that has had to regenerate itself after losing much of its Steel industry, the main reason for its existence.  Having just returned from performing at the North American Festival of Wales in Pittsburgh I started thinking about how we can learn from them.  It’s hard to believe how dirty and smoky the shiny city of Pittsburgh had once been.  This week I watched a BBC documentary about the Artist Andy Warhol who grew up in the Steel Town. The archive footage they showed from the 1920’s and 30’s looked like a vision of a smoking hell.

In recent days there has been an announcement that the old Pot Talbot blast furnaces will close for good at the end of this month.  Hopefully they will be replaced by new, cleaner processes that work with scrap metal rather than the ore itself. The worry is that as we lose the old industry and jobs they won’t be replaced by good new well paid ‘clean’ ones. 

BBC Radio 4 went to the streets asking what the people of the town felt about the news.  Most seemed resigned to their fate.  Some were pleased that their washing might no longer be ruined if the wind blew the black dust in the wrong direction.  All were worried for the future of their town and the young families who might struggle to find new work. All this must have been going on my head when thinking about what I should wear at the Arena next month. 

Why Port Talbot? 

Port Talbot is the home of one of the finest of fine artists I know.  I was introduced to Neale Howells by another old friend from Neath, Ed Thomas.  Ed is the man who has designed any number of Tardis for Dr Who and who has spent the last decade travelling the world working on major feature films and Netflix series.

When Ed and I got involved in the Hyst on Swansea High Street we wanted the venue to look and feel different.  Ed put all of his design skills into building a new stage and adding funky fittings but somewhere along the line he said we ought to chat to Neale Howells, an artist he had known since his teens.

Of course the first thing I did was google ‘Neale Howells’.  I was angry with myself that I didn’t already know of his work because I should have.  The Manic Street Preachers had even used some of Neale’s work for the album cover to ‘Know Your Enemy’. 

Ed called over to Neale’s studio in Port Talbot and picked out a massive piece that hung above the Hyst bar for many years.

Alicia Keys wears a Neale Howells design.

Having googled Neale and found out about his work including that album cover I also found something else.  In the past Neale had worked with Welsh designer Jayne Pierson.  Over the years they had created a number of collections using Neale’s artwork.  In fact one of their jackets had been worn by Alicia Keys at the start of the US series of The Voice in 2016.

I sent Neale a message and he invited me to his studio In Port Talbot.  The room is full of colour and massive paintings, with all sorts of bits and pieces scattered around that have had the Neale Howells treatment.  There were plates and Star Wars helmets and yes there were Neale Howells Jackets.

As time was tight Neale had suggested I bring a jacket that I knew fitted me and he would paint directly onto it.  And that’s where we are. I asked him if the jacket would be ready by 3^rd October and he said…what this year?

As I stood there in his studio I thought back to all of the art galleries and murals I had seen in Pittsburgh. The steel had gone but had been replaced with new jobs in Medical devices and robotics and the city had also taken the opportunity to use the clean new buildings as spaces to showcase the artistic talent of the region.  Everywhere I went I saw colour and it gave me hope.

I have no idea what the detail will be on my new piece of stage clothing and I’m not sure I’ll be able to wear it down to the local supermarket to pick up some milk, but one thing is for sure I will certainly be dressed to impress at the Swansea Arena.