October 4th, 2006
by Isla MC
Has anyone ever heard of Union Chapel? No, I hadn’t either, but it’s an undiscovered delight of a venue. A beautiful chapel from the late nineteenth century, it boasts superb acoustics and good looks. One of Loose Lips’ faves, Canada’s Hidden Cameras, played there last night and it was sweet ass, man.
We slightly perturbed on entry – seriously, it’s the quietest venue ever! All the bands were playing semi-acoustic sets and you can see why. Not only is the chapel in a residential area, but you could hear a pin drop in the gaps between songs – I suspect the sound would have been overwhelming had the bands gone full on, and I would have been worried about the chapel falling down! Joel from the Hidden Cameras said it: ‘Hello London. Welcome to our quiet show’.
Anyway, we walked in and every pew was overflowing. There was a strange man dancing in the corner, repeating the same motion over and over and over. The band was playing just in front of the fabulous font which gave the evening a peculiar feeling of worship and reverence. It was really beautiful and the Hidden Cameras rocked it despite the sound restrictions. What a motley crew they are! Homos, baldies, dykes, oldies, beards, fiddles, drumming on amps, hot cellists, they were quite a spectacle! I fell hook, line and sinker in love with the lovely drag king drummer. She was so sexy with her cheeky smile. In fact, she was the star of the show after her performance on the xylophone (one song, four notes to play in the entire thing and she still managed to steal it!).
I really do love the Hidden Cameras. Their songs are so beautiful. And that’s some feat considering most are all about golden showers and anal and fisting and similar. And Joel has the most clear and soaring voice. OK, this is turning into hyperbole now. Towards the end of the show it all got quite happy clappy (literally, and also quite appropriately considering the surroundings). The band got the audience on their feet, dancing and clapping away, and even strange dancing man varied his routine a bit which must have meant he was really excited. After the set, the chapel was almost brought down by the sheer force of people clapping and stomping away until Joel had to come out on stage to apologize for lack of encore. The show ended on a high and even the stupid curfew which was the reason why the band couldn’t do an encore, didn’t dampen spirits. Awoo to you the Hidden Cameras!