“The ‘brisk winds’ forecast for Friday afternoon turned out to be a Gale Force Seven storm, which stripped off the roof and back of the stage,” explains a Gray aide. “The Health & Safety people were called in and, after examining the damage, ruled that it was okay to go ahead with the gig, so long as there weren’t further high winds or a continuous downpour. David was happy with this, and started the gig on schedule at 8.45pm.”

Although dry and calm at first, the weather soon deteriorated.

“Realising that there was a very real danger of the band being electrocuted, the tour manager, Trevor Spillane, ordered them off. They came back 10 minutes later, only for the rain to get even heavier. The prudent course of action would’ve been to abandon the gig, but not wanting to disappoint the fans, David said ‘sod it’ and carried on.

“To give you an idea of how bad it was, there were two crew members whose sole job was to keep Tim, the keyboard-player, covered with plastic sheets. If water had got into his gear, he’d have been a gonner.”

Fans eager for new product will be pleased to hear that Gray is about to reenter the studio.

“Tour-wise, he’s finished White Ladder and wants to get into writing and recording new material,” the Gray aide concludes. “I imagine you’re looking at a new album in either the spring or summer of 2002.”