My Brightest Diamond at St Giles In The Field

My Brightest Diamond

Jess Bryant

St Giles In The Field, 17 November 2011

Shara Worden came dancing up the aisle at the start of the show at St Giles In The Field, literally. Wearing a white mask and a costume of felt orange flowers (also worn by the chamber assemble backing her tonight), she twisted and turned and pointed as in some kind of new tribal dance that was both theatrical and fun. After seeing St. Vincent last week at the Queen Elizabeth Hall I wondered what her fellow ex-Sufjan Stevens alumni, Worden, would be like, playing in a church no less, but this was something completely and charmingly different.

Patti Smith at St Giles In The Fields

Patti Smith

St Giles In The Fields, 27 January 2011

Wow. This show will be the one to beat. And how appropriate it was staged in the rather sacred setting of a centuries old church because this really was music as a religious experience.

St Giles In The Fields stands in the heart of the city, just off Charing Cross Road. You can see it looking small but majestic while walking down Denmark Street, the stretch of shops otherwise known as London's Tin Pan Alley, the home to a wide assortment of stores selling sheet music, guitars and other instruments. Its tall but simple steeple is a small beacon of a little peace and respite from the bustling streets surrounding Oxford Street. It's no wonder then that Patti Smith, on a trip to London, discovered it one day while visiting Denmark Street and found some poetic solace in its tranquil atmosphere and impressive history.

Alela Diane at St Giles Church

Alela Diane
William Elliott Whitmore
St Giles In The Fields, 30 March 2009

After a lot of confusion about just what church we were going to (there are a lot of St Giles churches in London it seems and Ticketmaster had sent out an oh-so-helpful email directing everyone to wrong one!) I made it to St Giles In The Fields, which is the church just off Tin Pan Alley, in time to secure a place in the front pew. Good thing too because, unlike the Union Chapel, which seems tailor made for music as well as services, the stage is very low and I'm sure I would have had difficulty seeing otherwise.