Andy Richardson: No rules Nige or straight-laced Jase?

He'd returned to his adopted home city for a one-off show having also booked a date for London's magnificent Royal Albert Hall.

Nigel was being joined by friends and luminaries for a three-hour work out through his starry repertoire. Except the idea of keeping time doesn't apply when you're the biggest-selling classical artist ever.

And so while Nigel did Lord knows what, his fans stood in line. The notion that his delay may in some way have been caused by a home game being played nearby by his beloved Aston Villa was speculated upon by more than one. The ushers, however, offered only UN-style diplomacy. 'Mr Kennedy is, er, late', they said. "C'mon you Villa. C'mon you Villa."

His evening in Birmingham was as much a celebration of claret'n'blue as it was of Bach and Grappelli.

The stage lights compromised vast orbs of his team's favourite colours while in the second half Nigel appeared in his favourite outfit: a Villa shirt that had been donated to him by Gabriel Agbonlahor. Nigel is as likely to wear a penguin suit as he is to vote UKIP.

Members of the Grealish family and numerous others from his team's extended family were in the VIP seats.

The bona fide maverick follows the road less travelled. While Symphony Hall is used to performers minding their Ps and Qs: Nigel treated the venue as he would a football stadium dressing room. Before taking to the stage there was chanting in the wings. The masses looked at one another as though Baha Men were breaking into a chorous of Who Let The Dogs Out? at a Buckingham Palace tea party. It was, in fact, Nigel psyching up himself and his orchestra.

Scattered

And when he eventually took to the stage, he again did things the way he wished. Before the show, he'd been too busy to tune-up his violin – which may have had something to do with Villa playing Sheffield – and so he did so from the stage. The running order was changed as the show went along. Performer's music stand lights were switched off and unplugged so that they couldn't see their music – #Bantz. And Nigel scattered other musician's scores on the floor before fist-bumping the front-row and declaring their applause 'Killa'.

And so what should have been a three-hour show with a 20-minute break became so overrun that he didn't appear to start the second half until 10.30pm – precisely the time that the audience should have been on its feet to offer a standing ovation as Nigel left for the night.

Instead, as the clock struck something like 11.30pm, the anxious Symphony Hall staff deployed the only weapon in their armoury to warn the performers that they wanted to go home. A thousand house lights lit up the stage to let Nigel know that if he didn't end soon the car parks would close, the buses would stop running and the trains would no longer leave the station.

It was their way of saying: 'C'mon Nige. The babysitter's already on overtime and it'll soon be time for breakfast if you don't wrap this thing up'.

A few hundred miles north, an equally successful entertainer – Jason Donovan – was putting himself through his paces in a touring production of the West End and Broadway hit Million Dollar Quartet. And the difference between his regime and that of Nigel couldn't have been more pronounced.

While Nigel watches the match, Jason has a brisk afternoon walk to get the blood pumping. While the violinist holds his aftershow in a Champagne bar, Jason prepares by blending smoothies of lemon, ginger, cucumber, broccoli and apples. And while Nigel last saw a watch while racing through duty free at the airport, Jason arrives at the venue three hours before showtime to make sure there are no surprises.

Polished, professional, slick and smoooth: Jason provided a starry performance that had the crowds on their feet. And local audiences can anticipate a similarly impressive performance when he brings MDQ to the region this spring.

The lesson, if there is one, is that performers follow different paths to get the best out of themselves. While Jason is meticulous, Nigel appears chaotic. While Jason runs like clockwork, Nigel's is more haphazard.

The world of entertainment is a world of different strokes.

It's party-time after a Nigel Kennedy show – but for Jason, it's probably home to the wife and kids.