little noise sessions

Every year, BBC Radio One dj Jo Whiley curates the wonderful Little Noise Sessions at the Union Chapel in London, on behalf of Mencap. Nine nights of amazing musicians (and surprise guests) such as Glasvegas, Razorlight, James Morrison, Keane, Fratellis, Kasabian, Kate Perry, Duke Special and Stereophonics. So far this year, the surprise guests were The Killers, on the opening night. More are rumoured to play as this week continues. Last year, Bono and The Edge turned up and played a few songs.

The Union Chapel is a 124 year-old, grade 2-listed chapel at Highbury Corner in north London; the ideal setting for any intimate, acoustic experience.

So you can imagine how pleased I was to be invited along last night to see Adele, Angus and Julia Stone and the amazing Damien Rice. Tickets were like gold dust and the atmosphere in the chapel was amazing. I only brought my tiny, not-good-for-low-light Canon G7, so please excuse the quality of the images.

Julia Stone



Adele



Jo Whiley and her two week old daughter Coco! Jo asked us not to clap too loudly when Damien came on, as she was really hoping Coco would stay asleep through his act and Jo could relax and listen to it ;)



Damien Rice



Damien played a perfect set. When I say perfect, it was perfect for me. He only played songs from his first ep and album. I first saw Damien and Lisa play in London, way back in 2001, at a tiny venue called The Kashmir Klub. He had just released the Blower's Daughter ep and hadn't yet released 'O' in Ireland. They were so mesmerising, I was blown away immediately. Poor Damien, he must have been sick of the sight of me, after a few months, as I never missed a London show. I prefer to call it 'supporting' rather than 'stalking' ;)

For the geeks among you, the setlist included:

Delicate
Amie
Blower's Daughter
The Professor (La Fille Danse)
Cannonball (Damien sang this without the PA, you could have heard a pin drop.)

He was on fine form with the banter, too. Several long, slightly naughty stories. Such a shame that he is not planning any more shows for a while. This one was a favour to Jo Whiley.

Oh ... and a little bird told me, after the show, that Lisa Hannigan's 'Ocean and a Rock' will be featured on Grey's Anatomy on the 24th of November! I'm sure she'll conquer the States in no time.

Fantastic night all round (many thanks, Paul).