27 November 2006: Chris Martin @ MENCAP Charity Gig, Union Chapel, London
From WikiColdplay
Setlist
to be added shortly
Reviews
Sorry folks that I haven’t been online much lately. I’m very busy at the present time. However, I did read in Saturday’s Mirror of the rumour that Chris Martin was going to duet with Lily Allen at the Union Chapel in Islington. Well, Islington is my old manor, and not very far from where I live, so I tried to see if I could get a ticket. I contacted Seetickets after seeing it advertised online, but they confirmed over the phone that the gig was sold out. However, being a determined Nettie, I decided to go to the venue anyhow, with the hope of perhaps getting a returned ticket or even worse, a ticket from a tout [yes, perish the thought, but desperate times call for desperate measures].
I showed up about 1.30pm and was told that there were spare tickets [phew!], so I just hung around the venue until the alloted time.
There were no signs of Chris at all, which I was hoping he’d show up for soundcheck. If he did, I didn’t know about it. I heard Lily Allen soundchecking, also James Morrison and The Automatic, but no Chris [oh well, story of my life really].
James Morrison came out for a ciggy [didn’t know he smoked, tut, tut] and I said hello and we started chatting. He’s a really, really nice bloke and very down to earth [I sincerely hope he stays that way]. And he’s sooooooooo young [only 22]. Go on mate!
James was also kind enough to put me on his guestlist for the show, to make sure I got in, incase anything happened [that was nice of him! ]
I also met The Automatic, but because I had no clue who the band members were, I just took general shots of them outside. I also met one Newton Faulker, who took me aback with his long, ginger dreadlocks. He also is a really nice bloke and I hope he makes it big. He deserves it.
I also spoke to Jo Whiley. She was coming down the road, carrying bags of shopping, which she said was for the bands [stuff on their rider]. I’d have thought they’d have people to do that, not Jo. Well, that impressed me no end.
Ok, so the time came when they let everyone in and I was at the front of the queue. I just mentioned James and they let me straight in. I didn’t have to pay, which I felt a bit guilty for because afterall, it was for the MENCAP charity [their Little Noise Sessions, Acoustic at the Union]. I bought a programme to help alleviate my guilt.
The Union Chapel being a church has pews for seating, two side rows and a main row in the middle. The first row was reserved for disabled people and their carers [although we spotted one girl there who didn’t look disabled to me. When challenged, she came out with how she had a “bad hip” - yea riiiiiiiight!]. We got the row behind, which was just as good. There were also a few photogs in the row in front, but they weren’t in the way.
We waited patiently, while they continued to set things up, then Jo came on stage and introduced the first act as being ‘formerly Eton Road, now they’re called The Tight White Tights’ and we hadn’t a clue who they were. Then Chris comes on stage, holding a broom, pretending he’s a dustman together with a guy holding a violin. He does a mini soundcheck to ‘Don’t Feel like Dancing’ by Scissor Sisters and goes on about how singing falsetto is becoming unfashionable.
Chris starts off by doing a Bob Dylan cover of “I Shall Be Released“. I remember the melody as I used to sing it in church [to slightly different words]. That was great.
Next he does “When You Were Young”, by The Killers, which was again excellent. Then he goes to the piano and plays a song that he and the violinist [I think he called him ‘Dave’] had written the night before called “Bucket for a Crown”. They did most of it, but then Chris stopped suddenly, saying it wasn’t finished. Then he went back to his acoustic guitar and they did another Dylan cover “Buckets of Rain“, which had a false start [he started on too high a note], but then he got into it in true Chris Martin fashion [also having first said if we don’t like it, then we could ‘fuck off’]. Too funny!
Throughout, Chris was cracking jokes and messing about. I even managed to heckle him a bit. He also had some nice things to say about Lily Allen and something else like, if he wasn’t married [trailed off...]. Every musician should be married at least 5 or 6 times and that oscar winning actresses even more! [LOL!]. He did seem a bit nervous, but he pulled it out of the hat, as usual. Then he was off the stage quick as a flash.
Next up was Newton Faulkner and he was AMAZING! His style is so unique with stumming and picking all over the frets, whilst knocking on his guitar with a drum pattern, in a way I’d never seen before. And his voice - he has a great vocal range, with a huge sound [where needed] and blew us away with his highly original songs. He also did a cover of Massive Attack’s “Teardrop“. Tres Excellente. After he’d finished, I ran down the aisle to get a copy of his EP and paid much more than I should have [heck, all proceeds were going to MENCAP!].
Next up was Ms Lily Allen in a cute red dress and headscarf, looking all Christmas-y. She did 5 of her songs, including “LDN” and “Smile”. She forgot the lyrics to one of her songs [bless her] and someone had to Google them for her, whilst she sang another song. That was funny. I love the sweetness of her voice and it remains sweet even in the high register. She and her band did a great set.
Then, The Automatic took the stage. Like most people in the audience, the only Automatic song I know is “Monster” [I know, shame on me], but the rest of their songs had a lot of energy and they did an absolutely BLINDING version of “Goldigga” by Kanye West, that really ripped the joint up. Everyone jumped up and started dancing and the guy on keys was rapping and he jumped into the audience and everyone was going crazy. I definitely won’t forget that in a hurry.
Lastly young James Morrison took to the stage and did a magcial set, including “You Give Me Something” and “Wonderful World”. One of the songs [I think it was the last one], the audience was deftly silent, you could hear a pin drop. All you heard was his voice and the piano. The hairs on the back of my head stood up. That how he captures you and draws you in with his raspy, gospel sound. I really have to go and get his CD. James rounded the night off beautifully.
It was a well put together musical menagerie of talent and I’m so glad I stuck around…
[Thanks WF]
