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The Pineapple Folk Yuletide Gathering: Micah P. Hinson / The Mountain Goats / Alasdair Roberts / Emmy the Great
The Union Chapel, London
Article written by
Adam W - Dec 10, 2007
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For the more cynical folk in the world, Christmas related things can be ghastly affairs as the romance and sentimentality of the whole thing gives a decidedly unpalatable edge to the climax of yet another year. Thankfully none of this nonsense pervades tonight’s occasion at the ever-delightful Union Chapel as we huddle in our pews with a flask of mulled wine (dutifully smuggled in) in front of what promises to be a wonderful evening’s entertainment.
Emmy the Great gives a very pleasant start to proceedings at the end of a year which has seen her gain further credibility on the London acoustic scene which has seemed to be struggling for poster boys and girls of late. Her wistful and delicately strummed tales, subtely backed with vocal harmonies and violin, have the added dimension of Emmy’s sharp tongue and confident demeanour which stops the set from drifting into blandness. However, one feels the overall product may be too slight and insignificant for her to ever attain big things, no matter how pretty it may be on occasion in this short set.
You know how it is, you go to the parties of certain people you know throughout the year and there’s that one fella who no-one seems to know who shows up every now and again. He’s nice enough like, but his crushing dullness means you never want to fully engage with him no matter how enthusiastically he spins his tales. Alasdair Roberts is the gig equivalent of that man, seeming to crop up every now and again with his methodically constructed reworkings of ye olde Scottish folk and reminding you exactly why you never turn up at these things/parties and go “Wow… Alasdair Roberts is here!” It just doesn’t happen, and after half an hour of his admittedly skilful playing and rendering you are practically willing him from the stage, hoping you’ve successfully palmed him off onto somebody else…
Now, The Mountain Goats don’t play over here very much but their gigs appear to be much fabled with mainstay John Darnielle being something of a modern day God (false idol alert #1) to those who have been blessed with enough time to venture into his vast back catalogue. On this evidence the entire Chapel is converted, if they were not before, as the two of them blast through gem after gem of Darnielle’s frantic, intense and literate songs. Seeming to ever blur the lines between reality, escapism, biography and fantasy this man is simply magical to watch and is as wonderfully odd as anything you could wish to witness. An encore is demanded, an encore is gotten and Darnielle skips off stage safe in the knowledge he has a raft of new converts to whom he has just preached. Breathtaking stuff.
It’s a tough act to follow but Micah P. Hinson manages to pull it off. Of all the artists who emerged in the “freak-folk explosion” of 2004, Micah P. has probably not been the strongest on record and has certainly not been as critically revered as many of the acts he was lumped in with. However, live is where the full force of the man is at and he ends the night with a display as warm and human as one can imagine. His quirky folk finds a loving home beneath the roof of the chapel, and rightly so. His voice (at only 26) bears the howl and anguish of a man who has had a bit more on his plate than a few too many sprouts over his young life, but tonight is a performance of defiance that things are finally going his way. As indeed they are. At the end of his set, he tearfully brings his girlfriend onto the stage and proposes… and she accepts. The Union Chapel removes the lump from its throat and cheers the happy couple into the night. An evening of romance? Yep. An evening of sentiment, you bet… and we wouldn’t have changed it for the world. As always, the cynics once again have got it wrong…
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