The last time I saw him in concert was at Manchester's Free Trade Hall, so long ago it makes me feel positive ancient.

In those days of innocence and timelessness, I was a huge fan, standing outside the stage door in awe, awaiting a sight of a real musical legend.

I have grown a little older, if not wiser, since then, and less inclined to hero worship.

And yet 68-year-old Yusuf remains something incredibly special.

I had been privileged to see him briefly in the afternoon rehearsing.

He was courteous and mild, and when the show - appropriately named 'Cat's Attic' - began, the crowd was hungry for some old, familiar songs.

His voice has lasted better, much better actually, than many of his ageing contemporaries.

His small band of two, and occasionally three, brought the memories positively flooding back.

Father and Son, Wild World, Morning has Broken, all the old tunes from the classic Tea for the Tillerman and beyond.

All cleverly interwoven with a real life tale of success, dark times, conversion to Islam and a yearning for the Peace Train. It is a life story in words and music.

I never thought I would ever see Cat Stevens again. I am not quite as in awe as I was when a kid, but that in no way reflects upon the magic of the man, rather more upon my realisation that, just like the rest of us mere mortals, here is a man who has seen huge success, obstacles along the way, dabbled with funny substances, and then seen the light.

But he does, even after the intervening years, sing so sweetly and convincingly.

Ingeniously intertwined with a life story from a café in London via international stardom to religiosity. Chatty. Friendly. Ordinary. But especially entertaining.

The Apollo on this night is a night to reminisce. Before Brexit. Before the internet. The days of meaningful lyrics and tuneful melodies.

Once a star - always a star. No wonder the audience had an insatiable appetite for yet more. They had waited a long time, as I had had. A time well worth the wait.

Of course, he has been involved in controversy since converting to Islam.

In 2000, he was deported from Israel over allegations that he provided funding to Hamas - which he strenuously denied.

At the time of his conversion, his brother, David Gordon, actually converted to Judaism.

And it was his brother who turned him on to Islam by giving him a copy of the Koran, which David had picked up on a trip to Jerusalem.

David co-founded, with Yael Drouyannoff, Peace Child Israel, which uses theatre and the arts to teach Arab and Israeli youngsters about coexistence.

In 2009, Yusuf released the single The Day the World Gets Round in aid of children in Gaza.

Then-Israeli Consul David Saranga criticised Yusuf for not dedicating the song to all children who were victims of the conflict, including Israeli children.

MILTON FIRMAN