Richard Thompson — Pontardawe Arts Centre

WITH Pontardawe preparing to host its internationally famous festival next month, who better to catch at the town's Arts Centre than folk-rock icon and national treasure Richard Thompson?

Fresh from two nights at London's Barbican Theatre, where he performed with his former band Fairport Convention and with the Incredible String Band, it was time to take the stage solo, armed with just his acoustic guitar for company.

And Tommo did not disappoint his fervent following of fans, who crammed into the delightful little theatre to see and hear the great man dip into his astounding body of work, which stretches back 40-plus years.

Highlights included the stellar Vincent Black Lightning, Bathsheba Smiles, I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight, Down Where the Drunkards Roll, Keep Your Distance and the haunting and beautiful Beeswing, during which you could have heard the proverbial pin drop.

But this was not just a nostalgia trip — there was newer material too — from his 2007 album Sweet Warrior.

Dad's Gonna Kill Me is a song about Iraq — dad is soldier slang for Baghdad, he explained — while Sunset Song is as evocative and poignant as anything he has ever written.

The blend of old and new was perfect from a terrific troubadour — one of our greatest post-war songwriters and supreme guitarists — who never takes his eye off the ball for a moment.

Long may he run.

John Walters