The famous Mencap charity concerts ‘Little Noise Sessions’ surprisingly left their native home in Islington to move to a new venue this year, the church of St John at Hackney.
On Thursday 24th November an excited Jo Whiley introduced the evening as her dream line-up, starting from the emerging Bebe Black to the world’s most popular band, Coldplay.
In between the two acts three other great upcoming artists showcased their songs: Michael Kiwanuka, Ben Howard and Emeli Sande.
Coldplay in St John at Hackney
Coldplay followed onstage, it wasn’t technically the band but a substantial portion of it: Chris Martin and lead guitarist Jonny Buckland.
The headliners began with a piano and guitar rendition of their 2000 hit ‘Yellow’, making the crowded hall stand up and sing along from the very beginning.
The performance went on with ‘Violet Hill’ – “the first song we wrote together and finished up just a few years ago”, Chris told the audience – and the Grammy award winning ‘Clocks’.
Chris Martin looked possessed at the piano whilst Jonny Buckland was perfect to balance and frame the performance with his riffs and solos.
Chris Martin
Next on the setlist was their latest hit ‘Paradise’, which saw the first big “Ohhhhhh-ohhhhh” from the public – but that was just a warm-up for the following song: ‘Viva La Vida’.
It is incredible to see how loud a semi-acoustic concert can get when the band onstage is singing such a driving and empathic song.
The new fan-favourite (and tipped next single) ‘Charlie Brown’ and old-school ‘The Scientist’ kept the audience entertained until the final feel-good single ‘Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall’.
The duo came back for a two-song encore, playing their major debut single ‘Shiver’ and their wonderful tearful ballad ‘Fix You’.
A very good performance for a very good cause.
Verdict: •••••
The Editor
Watch the piano and guitar rendition of ‘Charlie Brown’ here
Watch the piano and guitar rendition of ‘The Scientist’ here
