Tuesday 19/02/08 Stereophonics with Ronnie Wood @ The Hospital, London

The lucky few present at The Hospital in Covent Garden tonight were treated to an intimate gig like no other. Foul mouthed audience members, mischievous lead singers, leather jackets, dark sunglasses, and a guest appearance from an original rocker were all present in the first acoustic outing from the Stereophonics in a good while.

It’s not until Kelly and co. saunter on stage that you realise just how rare an occasion this is. So used to stadium tours with faceless crowds, they show nerves in the intimate surroundings and apologise even before the songs are underway. Kelly mumbles expletives and continually wonders what they are doing. “We’ve got no fucking clue what we’re doing here. It’s for Empire isn’t it?!” he jokes, not to the amusement of the Q team who have spent months putting this affair together.

Pre-gig nerves don’t last long when you’re as good at this showbiz malarkey as this band are, and after a quick intake of red wine and Scarlett Johanson perving (she is down the road at a film premiere), Kelly launches into ‘Bank Holiday Monday’ from 2007’s ‘Pull the Pin’, showing he’s not here simply for the free booze.

The sunglasses stay firmly fixed to Kelly throughout, as do all eyes in the venue. Veering wildly from not quite giving a fuck, to massive enjoyment, The Sterophonics race through a setlist that most bands would kill for. When ‘The Bartender and the Thief’ comes second in the line-up you know you’re in for a sure fire night of greatest hits. Debut album ‘Word gets Around’, gets more than just its usual nod with indie anthem ‘Just Lookin’, just heard above the crowd’s collective voice, and favourite ‘Local Boy in the Photograph’ (which went “triple plywood with a bullet” in 1996) getting an airing.

And the anthems do not stop there. Fans were treated to acoustic takes on ‘I Wouldn’t Believe Your Radio’ from 1999’s ‘Performance and Cocktails’, ‘Dakota’ of the remarkably stupidly named 2005 album ‘Language. Sex. Violence. Other?’ and latest single ‘My Friends’. But not even this rare selection of the back catalogue could prepare the crowd for what the encore had in store. A now confident Kelly growls through ‘Maybe Tomorrow’ just so 2003’s ‘You Gotta Go There To Come Back’ doesn’t feel left out, as he sits stage centre on his own. And as his band mates join him back on stage for the finale, so does an honorary Stereophonic. None other than Mr Ronnie Wood.

A stunned audience watch the original rock god jump up and down with a smile that Kelly has managed to stifle all night. Not that Ronnie cares one bit. His hand knitted jumper and throw back hair are the happiest thing on stage. And so they treat us to a mesmerising rendition of The Beatles ‘Don’t Let me Down’ that keeps everyone smiling long after the wonderfully eclectic mix leaves the stage. This is surely one of those collaborations that will live long in the memory, even longer than the realisation that a woolly jumper is cooler than a leather jacket, when you’re worn by a Rolling Stone.