It's a cold dark wet Saturday evening, so to cheer myself up I'm at my favourite venue to see the inimitable John Otway. It's been just over four years since he last came to The Pot, so we can expect more music and fun like the last time with Blue Peter wire coathanger neck mic holders, wild theremin sounds and shirts being torn open sending buttons everywhere!

I get to the sound check and the great man's already there tucking a clean white shirt into his trousers. I wonder if he sews new buttons on after each gig or whether he just buys a new shirt. Otway is a thoroughly nice guy and poses for photos and chats about his upcoming gigs in Gibraltar in January.

The merch guy, John Skews, is setting out his wares at the back of the room and gives me an Otway fridge magnet and a magazine that John signs for me listing all the gigs John's ever done - he's done over 5000 to date. Meanwhile, John slips away to sample of some of the excellent beers on offer before the gig starts, and soon people are queuing for the gig, and before long it's pretty chummy in there as people jostle for pole position.

True to form, Otway fulfils all my predictions: there really are bouncy coathanger wire mic holders, some incredibly spooky theremin playing on 'Ghosts' and 'Crazy Horses' and the shirt is duly torn open for 'We Rock.' He also plays some of his best known numbers like 'Really Free,' 'Beware of the Flowers,' and 'Bunsen Burner,' before ending the night in spectacular style with 'I Shouldn't be Doing This' and 'Geneve'.