Gilbert O'Sullivan, Lighthouse, Poole

IT doesn't seem so long ago that Gilbert O'Sullivan was singing about the misery of performing to near-empty halls.

So what a joy it was to see him last night acknowledging a standing ovation on the final stop of what must have been his most successful tour in years.

Gilbert - astonishingly youthful at 60, with a dandelion clock of hair that many men half his age would envy - was clearly thrilled by his reception.

With a recording career stretching back 40 years, this most prolific of singer-songwriters (or "singer sewing machine" as he once proclaimed himself) has a remarkable back catalogue. But there's plenty of new material too, including songs from his latest album, A Scruff at Heart.

Footage of O'Sullivan in his flat-capped "Buster Keaton" days accompanied his performance of Nothing Rhymed and there were home movies during Clair - delightful touches, I thought.

This was a big-production concert with 11 backing musicians, including string quartet and singers, so it was a pity that much of the detail was drowned out in the first half due to over-amplification.