The Leisure Society
When: 10th May 2011
Where: Union Chapel, Compton Terrace, Islington N1 2UN
£: 12.50
What was it?
The Leisure Society played the Union Chapel with support from Sarabeth Tucek. The Union Chapel hosts music and comedy gigs, providing an unusual and pleasant setting for bands like The Leisure Society. Although they don’t permit alcohol in the chapel itself, there is a separate bar if you can’t resist a drink. They also have a kiosk with a range of beverages including herbal tea and hot chocolate. For the pekish they sell snacks such as crisps and some very tasty ice-cream.
Sarabeth Tucek
American singer-songwriter Sarabeth Tucek’s set was beautifully simple with herself on guitar and a guy accompanying her, also on guitar. The only musical addition came in the form of Christian from The Leisure Society when he joined them on stage for one song. The songs themselves were haunting folk songs that seemed touched by sadness. Get Well Soon was the star song and although it’s not something to listen to when you need cheering up, it is one of my favourite tracks of 2011 so far.
The Leisure Society were more jolly in tone and worked a charm in the beautiful surroundings of the chapel. The band play a fantastic array of instruments including the flute and violin and were joined onstage by a man playing the hang drum. With all the swapping around of instruments it’s surprising they remembered what they were supposed to be doing and kept the flow of the gig going, but they did.
The Leisure Society
In-between songs band-member Christian rambled on amiably to fill the silence. They played quite a few songs of their new album including I Shall Forever Remain an Amateur, You Could Keep Me Talking and single This Phantom Life. Despite a few misbehaving mikes and guitar straps the gig executed the perfect combination of pop, folk and charm.
More info: See what’s coming up at The Union Chapel and find out more about The Leisure Society.