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James Blunt has got a lot to answer for that is, apart from the obvious not giving the likes of Damien Rice a fair trial by spurious musical association. Live albums are notoriously nostalgic and somewhat lacking unless you were actually at the gig in question. The thing with BRIT nominee Damien Rice is that he’s a storyteller of the highest calibre and one who best functions live on stage and if you haven’t seen him perform in the flesh, ‘Live From The Union Chapel’ is the next best thing. Recorded in February 2003, his latest release contains tracks from his understated yet acclaimed debut 'O' alongside never before recorded tracks and featuring performances from Rice’s long-standing collaborator Lisa Hannigan.
Commanding, powerful and confident from the start, entwined in the arms of a haunting violin comes ‘Delicate’. It might well smack of couples lovingly holding hands but it’s a cracking way to start an album and one that makes you stop whatever you are doing and listen. And this is more or less how Rice manages to captivate not only the audience but also the listener throughout the entirety of the album. Thankfully the hit single ‘The Blowers Daughter’ doesn’t provoke any crowd participation while ‘Baby Sister’ and ‘Amie’ stops you dead in your tracks and make you wonder why Rice is such a largely forgotten musician. The intriguing and perhaps eeriest aspect of this gig is how spell bound the audience actually are. You can physically hear the silence in between each number as nobody dares to move let alone clap until they are positive that Rice has completely finished with the song.
He also shares his stage with Ireland’s Lisa Hannigan who features heavily on O, singing on the majority of the tracks. ‘Live From The Union Chapel’ see’s her showcase a stunning vocal through ‘Volcano’, ‘Be My Husband’ (written by Nina Simone’s husband, manager and producer, Andy Stroud) and the showstoppingly daunting and darkly beautiful ‘Then Go’. She also has the duty of bring the album and the gig to a close with ‘Silent Night’, same festive musical arrangement, but with alternative lyrics. As an album it’s quite simply stunning and goes a long way in exposing a musician with raw passion and natural talent. And if chart positions were determined purely on live credentials, ‘Live From The Union Chapel’ would be a guaranteed number one.
