The way one is expected to behave in a church...
How much does a venue affect the audience and therefore the show? The crowd at a gig at Union Chapel - which prides itself on selling Hot Chocolate (complete with Marshmallows!) - always seems different. Maybe it is the sort of acts that are booked. Or perhaps it is because it is a Church. Even the predominantly middle class lefties who have long shunned religion (and whose political party have long shunned them) have not quite been able to shun the way one is expected to behave in a church! There is a respectful chatter before the gigs and a silence during songs that is seldom found elsewhere. Or it may simply be that the bum numbing pews slowly numb the rest of the senses too!
How much does a venue affect the audience and therefore the show? The crowd at a gig at Union Chapel - which prides itself on selling Hot Chocolate (complete with Marshmallows!) - always seems different. Maybe it is the sort of acts that are booked. Or perhaps it is because it is a Church. Even the predominantly middle class lefties who have long shunned religion (and whose political party have long shunned them) have not quite been able to shun the way one is expected to behave in a church! There is a respectful chatter before the gigs and a silence during songs that is seldom found elsewhere. Or it may simply be that the bum numbing pews slowly numb the rest of the senses too!
The start of this gig has
been slipped earlier, and by the time I have picked up the fact I am late for
the first act Heg and the Wolf Chorus.
I slip into Union Chapel for the
second time this week and find a seat – well, the end of a pew - and settle in to
catch as much as is left of their set. Turns out that there is not much of the
set left at all and I only hear one full song but they have got me interested
and I decide to check out the CDs before the next act. I place my bag on the
seat with my jacket and head to the merchandise stand. There are a number of
singles on offer so I decide to check them out online once I’m home and make an
informed decision, but I’m right next to the café queue and it would be rude
not to buy a coffee.
Coffee in hand I make my way
back to my seat. I find it occupied and my bag and coat slung on the floor. I
stand for a moment or two and wait for some eye contact from the people sitting
there. They resolutely concentrate on the roadies setting up the next act. Now,
solo gig going is not the easiest experience in the world. Standing on one’s
own when everyone else seems to be with friends gets tiresome. Not having
anyone to chat to about the gig on the way home is disappointing (perhaps
that’s why I decided to blog!) and at a standing gig or unreserved seating how
do you stake a claim to your place in the crowd? I reflect that it would be
good if people could understand that and recognise that a single bag on a pew
means that the seat has been temporarily vacated for legitimate reasons.
For a moment I contemplate challenging their rudeness. But I’m in church and don’t want to make a scene. So I trust they will enjoy their view and I move further back to sit with a better class of people!
For a moment I contemplate challenging their rudeness. But I’m in church and don’t want to make a scene. So I trust they will enjoy their view and I move further back to sit with a better class of people!
This was not what I expected
of a Union Chapel audience but oddly
I have experienced the exact same behaviour before – not at a venue but at a
Church service! So maybe the venue does affect the gig, or certainly the
behaviour of the audience!
Even the hoi polloi at the back of the church have been blessed...
This gig has been advertised as a Moulettes and Nizlopi on a co-headlining tour, so I am not sure who will be playing next. Once settled I see that it must be the Moulettes, as the stage is set for more than a duo. And what a treat their set is! Creative, beautiful, mesmerising, energetic and bold. They make reference to the fact that this is the end of their ‘Constellations’ tour and I am reminded of the first time I saw them at the Ruby Lounge, Manchester, 18 months ago; it was the beginning of them touring their Constellations material. What a difference the 18 months and however many shows has made! At the Manchester gig I was disappointed with their new material but the whole set that night was worth it for their rendition of one of my favourite songs ‘Sing Unto Me’. Tonight the opposite is true. ‘Sing Unto Me’ seems to lack the energy and spirit that make it such a great song, yet the new material has a wonderful energy and is played with a tightness that was lacking in Manchester.
I completely forget that my original
seat has been occupied. I forget the rudeness of the settlers, and simply enjoy
strange songs played by musicians still enjoying their jobs who are willing to
take risks musically and lyrically. Inevitably the set is too short and over
too soon but even the hoi polloi at the back of the church have been blessed.
I realise I need the loo and
with trepidation place my bag and jacket on my seat fully expecting them to be
thrown out on the street in my absence! However, I told you they were a better
class of people at the back, and when I return I find my bag still installed where
I had left it.
Yes dancing - in church...
I didn’t buy a ticket to see
Nizlopi - I wanted to see the Moulettes - but I stay unsure of what I
will get! I have seen them before. They played a festival I was at shortly
after their 15 minutes of fame when, for no reason anyone can really explain,
the musical gods favoured them and ‘JCB’
became a massive hit. I remember enjoying their set and realising there is more
to them than a song about being five and sitting in a JCB believing your dad is
Bruce Lee. Alas, that was then and this is now. They should not be headlining.
Frankly after the Moulettes they
seem amateur. Their set ranges from being, at worst, cringe worthy to at best, OK!
Their best is when they use the natural acoustics of the building and play
unplugged in the aisles. To their credit they slip in JCB without fuss, and in the middle of the set, but the rest of set
reminds me too much of being at a singers’ night and the mediocrity that often
brings.
Yet, what do I know? In one
part of the stalls there are people behaving in a very un-church like way.
Whooping and hollowing after every song and dancing - yes dancing - in church!
They have obviously built up a dedicated following for whom they seem unable to
do anything wrong, but the polite applause and quick exit of the rest of the
audience at the end suggests that I am not the only one for whom the Moulettes have been the highlight.
There is definitely a
different atmosphere at Union Chapel. I conclude that it is partly to do with
it being a church, but also to do with the way it presents itself as a venue,
and it definitely adds something to any gig. Venues do affect the atmosphere of
a gig and the best venues are the one that seek to be what they are and build
on that not just a clone of every other venue. I just wish some of the audience
hadn’t behaved as the worse type of churchgoers and I could have continued to sit
near the front!
Gig: 39 of 50
Date of Gig: Fri. 27th November 2015
Venue
Union Chapel
Venue
Union Chapel
Artists
Heg and the Wolf Chorus
Heg and the Wolf Chorus
Moulettes
Nizlopi
Running total of artists seen 84
Running total of artists seen 84
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