A Night At Union Chapel – Union Chapel, London - 30th September 2011 (Live Review)
Thursday, 06 October 2011
Written by Ben Bland
To celebrate their continued success in their field, art rock label K-Scope decided to bring together four of their top artists for a special night of stripped back sets at Islington’s wonderful Union Chapel venue. Such a move has clearly prompted a delighted reaction from the label’s supporters, as the venue’s pews are almost completely full on this warm Friday evening.
Kicking off the night, Italians NoSound provide a suitably dreamy sound. Despite just vocalist and guitarist Giancarlo Erra and keyboardist Paolo Martelacci actually present, the music is still not in quite its most basic format. Plenty of samples and soundscapes are keyed in and triggered to allow the stripped back versions of songs on display here to be not all that different from their studio counterparts. Erra switches between acoustic and clean electric guitar, all the while allowing his breathy vocals to make the most of the quiet afforded by the seated crowd. Lyrically the band are occasionally clunky, it has to be said, and occasionally Erra’s accent does lead to a bit of unwanted comedy value. However NoSound are certainly not a bad way to get the evening going.
Engineers’ duo Mark Peters and Simon Phipps are much better though, providing the first sign that a really special evening is on the cards. Their acoustic versions of the band’s hazy shoegaze influenced pop sometimes not only impress but even sound better than the originals. The pulling out of rare b-side 'Cats of Justice' is a particular highlight. Bruce Soord of The Pineapple Thief takes to the stage to great roars of approval and his solo set gives a good impression of his songwriting ability. A vicious run-through of 'Wake up the Dead' is a brilliant way to start and when press agent Alx Leeks takes to the stage to join on backing vocals things continue on strongly. A couple of misfiring intros aside, Soord plays his songs solo in an extremely accomplished fashion and receives rapturous applause as he departs the stage.
This leaves Anathema (pictured). Without a doubt one of the finest British bands of the last two decades, they are down to three tonight. Danny Cavanagh takes to the stage first and before he is joined by his brother Vincent on the stage he has already looped an effective drumbeat on his acoustic guitar, as well as a strummed chord before going over to sit at the piano. Vincent then joins on an effect laden guitar to create additional soundscapes before proving himself in fine voice as the delightful introduction leads into a soaring 'Kingdom'.
When she arrives to join the Cavanagh brothers, Lee Douglas’ backing vocals are as perfectly attuned as always. Unexpectedly leaving out acoustic songs like 'Are You There?' means that Anathema can show off how easily they can strip down their material to a fashion suitable for the occasion. The likes of 'Deep' and 'Thin Air' don’t suffer a jot from not being full band performances and as always 'A Natural Disaster' is a set highlight, allowing Lee to fully showcase her gorgeous vocals. The set passes by far too quickly for the crowd’s liking and when it is time to depart the band leave to pleas for an encore, having played one of their most entertaining and superbly judged performances to date.
'Falling Deeper' by Anathema is out now on K-Scope.
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