It was 26 years ago that I last went to a Joan Armatrading concert. Then her last notable hit - 'Drop The Pilot' - was a recent memory. In the intervening period she hasn't troubled the charts much to my knowledge, and has reinvented herself as something of a blues artiste. So, with two of my fifty-something friends, I pitched up at the Ulster Hall, Belfast for an age-appropriate Saturday night out.

The support act was Lisbee Stainton, a pretty girl with a pretty voice and a pretty strange name. Looking around the audience I did wonder if it was short for Lisbee-Anne, but I cast aside such churlish thoughts. Singing her own songs, accompanied by double bass and snare, and by her own impressive 12 string guitar, she was a joy. Fans of Shawn Colvin should note the name. Needless to say it is unlikely that she will achieve any degree of commercial success, unless she can persuade her dog to also learn guitar and join her band.

Then the main event. The band comprises drums, bass and keyboards with Joan handling all the guitar work. Dressed in black silk trousers and collarless jacket, a long fringe hiding her eyes, she resembles Chairman Mao in an ill-fitting Beatle wig. The opening song is a slightly lacklustre 'Show Some Emotion' which receives a rapturous response. This sets a pattern, with the older material sprinkled throughout the set provoking loud cheers, and the newer material drawing polite applause.

It is clear however that it is the new bluesy material that draws the most passion from the singer, and she politely declines requests for some early songs. There is some stunning guitar work as well, and I end up feeling that I would rather see Joan Armatrading in a blues club where she could avoid the requirement to deliver the singalongs and swaying arms of 'All The Way From America'. Occasionally the band, which is overall tight and focused, does indulge in some retro soloing; 'Tall In The Saddle' at one point drifting into some extended electric piano noodling.

It was an enjoyable show but it trod a fine line, and some of the old material sat uncomfortably with the new. Having said that the newer songs were well received - if it had been Cat Stevens he'd have been booed off the stage twenty minutes in. Joan Armatrading deserves more from her audience than an expectation to simply sing the hits, and I think if she pushed them harder she might be rewarded.

And amazingly, to round off the evening, on the way out we bumped into Valerie Singleton.*

*No we didn't.