The Kooks, Plan B, Get Cape Wear Cape Fly - Union Chapel, London - Monday 20th November 2006

This was a unique gig, in a unique venue - the Union Chapel in Highbury holds only around 500 people, and they are all seated on church pews. It felt like a very hushed, reverential experience, to be sitting in church, watching such a stripped down, quiet, acoustic gig. In fact, the complete opposite to the over-the-top Flaming Lips show from the same time the previous week! People were whispering, not wanting to make too much noise in such an amazing venue.

First on stage were Get Cape Wear Cape Fly, whose lyrics and melancholy songs were probably ideally suited to an event like this. Getting the "swearing in church" barrier out of the way very quickly, they went through a 7-song set (I know because I got the setlist afterwards), which included a fantastic cover of Hot Chip's Over And Over. The chat in between songs was all about musicians being in a position to stand up and support what they believe in, which seemed like an appropriate message for a charity evening.


Next up was Plan B, possibly the act I was most excited about seeing - having not had the pleasure before. His lyrics are incisive, but very dark to say the least - and he did tone down some of the more gory excesses for such a nice venue. He really showed off his range of vocals and song styles during an excellent set, and proved to many that he is a real songwriter across a number of genres, not just a rapper. Playing solo with an acoustic guitar, he even burst into a rendition of the classic Tracks Of My Tears at one point in the set. A truly varied set, which won a great many of the audience over, and showed that Plan B is a very talented songwriter indeed.

Jo Whiley introduced The Kooks, and predictably, the crowd erupted - even in church! 2 members of the band arrived on stage, and launched straight into Seaside, appropriate really, since their normal opening song at gigs was perfect for this event. They played a good number of songs from their album, but also a clutch of new songs - the vast majority of which sounded very catchy indeed. I had wondered how their new songs would stack up against the old ones, but on this evidence, their second album should be great - I can't wait to hear more of some of the new songs.

In the middle of their short set, the band were joined by Get Cape Wear Cape Fly, for a Bob Dylan cover, during which the singer seemed to be rather trashed - he didn't seem to know what day it was. Increasingly slurring his words when talking in between songs, luckily this didn't affect the vocals! After a brief exit from the stage, The Kooks returned to finish with a version of Naive that was as riotous as you can possibly get in a quiet acoustic show!

All in all, a very special gig - and a great opportunity to see some fantastic songwriters in an amazing venue.