First let me say, this is the fifth time my family and I have heard Jamie Cullum perform (we heard him three times in 2006 and twice this year). All have been wonderful performances by Jamie, his band and the opening performers.

This performance was stellar. We had heard Jamie in Nashville in March, and his voice continues to be strong. The mix of the songs had a certain eclectic feeling to them, with the band seeming to be ready to change instruments to play whatever he decided to sing at a moments notice. This was somewhat different from other shows, where he played different songs, but you sensed that the band knew what was going to be played next. I sensed that maybe they were doing this to keep themselves "fresh" for each performance. With a talented performer like Jamie, who has such varied musical skills, it must be a luxury, of sorts, for them to play with him.

I had always thought that the audiences in Nashville was very musically "into" the tunes, but the Birmingham crowd was feisty and up for anything, too. There was a good mix of old and new songs, and I think even, at least, one that I hadn't heard before.

All four previous performances had gone on for 2 hours and 15 minutes, and I was surprised to see this one end just short of two hours; however, when we got out to the lobby, we saw Jamie and the band members, talking to folks, signing tickets, and taking pictures, and I liked that touch better than if they had played 20 minutes longer.

My only gripe, if you could call it that, had nothing to do with the performances, but rather with the venue. While the setting at the Stephenson Art Center was spectacular, it is a beautiful medium-size venue, we were sitting in the orchestra section (floor) about 14 rows back, and we spent a large amount of our time straining to see around the heads of people in front of us (the seats were staggered, so if the performer was center stage, it was OK, but if they were at any angle, as in playing a piano on the left, or just off from center,you found that when one person, four rows up, moved their head, a domino-effect took place, with everyone behind them having to move their heads, too.

All-in-all, it was another wonderful night!!!