The Power and the Glory

Reflections on the Pin Drop Tour by Brandi Carlile at Union Chapel, Islington…

February 2015

Much as I love Brandi Carlile’s music, I could not set a fire in my cold bones about seeing her play live for the first time. It was a cold winter night, with predictions of snow. I was hungry, feeling disconnected from the in-crowd who clearly followed Brandi across whole continents, despite my being there with the woman I love. I heard Spanish, German, Dutch and indistinguishable languages in the hubbub outside the Union Chapel, as we stamped our feet for warmth, my face wrapped with a woolly scarf, hijab style, to keep out the biting wind. Thinking, what was the point of being here for hours, waiting, when we could have been in the cosy pub around the corner with a pint of Greene King IPA. A scalded coffee and a flavourless takeaway burger were no consolation, ending up discarded into a bin along with the German girls’ beer bottles. I am ashamed to say I moaned, unlike this happy, good-natured, rosy-nosed crowd.

Finally, with the belated unlocking of the doors, it all began to change. The agony of waiting turned to awestruck wonder, as soon as I stepped inside the astoundingly beautiful venue of old wooden pews and ledges of stonework laid out ethereally with hundreds of candles. Clearly, we had come to worship. A ragged wind- whipped flock, huddled with our hot chocolate mugs, waiting for our priestess.

It all began with an audible hush as a creaky old gramophone started playing from the stage, announcing the opening of an entirely acoustic performance. A string trio performed flawless re-interpretations of classic songs; a rejection of technology for the purity of unamplified violin and cello. This audacious trio who dared to take on the Killers, Bonnie Tyler and Radiohead risked the kind of disgust, which only an eight year old with a Disney crush could display, when the opening strains of the ubiquitous “Let it Go” began. The spell could not be broken however, and this young girl seated in the next pew to ours, beamed with delight.

There was clearly some kind of magic in the air. In the absence of anything on stage requiring a plug or a socket, the church was strangely electric, as if generating its own power. Heralding the arrival of Brandi and her twin minstrels, Tim and Phil Hanseroth, haunting cello music filled the church. Looking up, the two cellists were lit with a candle glow, like angels in the gallery above, followed by a cheeky violinist appearing like a Jack- in- the- box from behind the pulpit. The crowd began an appreciative roar as Brandi appeared and the band launched into a lively rendition of Again Today, followed by a personal favourite, The Story, always a showcase for Brandi’s amazing voice.

The challenge of singing live without any form of amplification seemed to evolve from a less confident warm up to an effortless sprint, with Brandi’s voice soaring through numerous crowd pleasing tracks, and a host of thrilling songs from her new album, The Firewatcher’s Daughter. The fans greeted the new material with equal enthusiasm. “The Eye” was incredibly performed with just Brandi, the twins’ voices and foot stomps as accompaniment.

By the encore, an old Fleetwood Mac favourite “The Chain” had been dressed up in some new finery and given a fresh outing. Swept along with the band’s enthusiasm and sheer brilliance, you really could have heard a pin drop; the sound was so refined and rich. There were no pyrotechnics, no light shows, no background distraction of video chuntering, no amps, no mikes, and sometimes no instruments bar Brandi’s beautiful voice. Pared back from the fripperies which often accompany music, it was like tasting music for the first time.

And like the freshest, simplest dish of the finest ingredients, it was sublime.

Bloomsbury