The Enemy, The Wombats, Noah And The Whale - Union Chapel, London - Tuesday 27th November 2007

Back at the Union Chapel for the second time in a few days, for another of the Little Noise sessions, this time headlined by The Enemy. This show was not sold out (possibly due to the high ticket price), and I must admit I really wasn't sure what The Enemy would be like in an acoustic setting - stripped of their guitars. Another surprise appearance the previous night, this time from Razorlight, raised hopes of some mystery guests this time too

The first band on were Noah and the Whale, a band about whom I'd heard a bit (and seen their name at quite a few gigs around London), but had never heard anything by. They were ideally suited to this kind of environment, being a folky band, and I thought their set was fantastic. With a guitarist and vocalist joined on stage by a female backing vocalist and a violinist, they played brilliant poppy folk songs, many of which started off slow, dark and moody, then built up to great euphoric finishes. They only played about 4 songs, but I really liked what I saw, it reminded me quite a bit of Willy Mason, but the singer also sounded more than a bit like Adam Green - not a bad thing. I'm going back for some more of them, as soon as possible.

Next on were The Wombats, just back in the UK from a load of dates in Europe, and sounding very pleased to be back home. They played their last 2 singles, Lets Dance To Joy Division and Kill The Director immediately, and looked like they were really enjoying themselves on stage. There was good banter between songs, a few jokes about swearing in church, and they took the opportunity to play some of the quieter songs from their album.

In a setting like this - up close, acoustically, and with all the lights on - bands can often get scared, but The Wombats came across really well. To finish their set, they played next single Moving To New York, with a really cheap keyboard (£20, apparently), providing a very cheesy but funny backing track. A good set, and I resolved to go away and listen to their album, which I hadn't yet got around to.

The Enemy came on stage at around 9:30, with a string quartet kicking off the introduction to set opener We'll Live And Die In These Towns. The strings were there throughout a set that was pretty short, clocking in at around 35 minutes, and they really added an extra dimension to the band's set. I'm not usually the biggest fan of The Enemy, but this set really was special to watch - also helped somewhat by the lack of chavs in the audience.

They played most of their singles, everything was nicely slowed down, and they even chucked in a couple of covers too - including an excellent version of David Bowie's Five Years (which Arcade Fire also cover from time to time - so not a 100% original idea). This wasn't the longest set, and The Enemy are far from my favourite band - but they definitely showed tonight that they have more to them than just some formulaic indie songs. I was impressed, the string quartet made it all very special, and the band came across really well indeed.