Damien Rice

Fopp is a relatively new find and its regular live slots should not be missed. An intimate candlelit back room in the basement of this huge and easy-to-manoeuvre record shop in the heart of Central London featured the diminutive Damien Rice.

Walking on stage to a captive and seated crowd, Rice looks like any other quite cute crusty we all might have hung out with during some 'alternative’ phase at college, and his two backers might have walked in off the street to join him, for all we knew.

But his quick wit and ease with the crowd made you think you were about to hear something special.

Rice was on a tight time limit due to travel restrictions, so he only did a handful of tracks off his new album but luckily included all of 9’s finer points.

Hits included the lovely 'The Elephants Were Gone’, 'Elephant’ (do we sense a theme?), 'Rootless Tree’, which showed a harder edge to Rice that was raw and powerful while still sensitive.

One of my favourites of the new album is 'Coconut Skins’, which allowed Rice to again delve into his higher energy side, versus the rest of the set. And it works splendidly.

The hilarity of that number though, was that poor Lisa embarrassedly admitted she had forgotten her egg (that shaker thing ' no idea what the technical term is). Woops. But the band is resourceful and professional enough to not let it faze them. With stand-in violinist Cora Venus Lunny’s suggestion of a handful of coins inside a baker boy hat, the trio went for Take 2.

But then some rather helpful member of the audience randomly had one on his person (as you do) and was able to lend a hand.

'Grey Room’ was excellent, being about 'sinking into a hole when you don’t actually want to be there, not like when you throw yourself into that kind of hole that you need to be in every now and then, I mean the kind that makes you think, 'Get me the f**k out of here'.’

Stunning new single '9 Crimes’, featuring the beautifully delicate voice of his backing singer Lisa Hannigan who looks like possibly the most timid creature you could ever imagine, with a spectacularly emotive vocal ability.

Yet another imperfection happened through this intro though, where Rice was supposed to be accompanying on his keyboard. As Hannigan broke into her first line, Rice stopped it dead. 'It doesn’t sound right', he complained. 'Let’s try it again with more Rhodes.'

So he did. And once again she started singing. 'No, it’s just not right up here,' MN started to sense a bit of Diva-like action, but alas no.

Lisa hissed: 'Why don’t you just play it on the guitar?'

'Oh, okay.' So he did, and, third time lucky, it was by far worth the wait, no doubt sending shivers down the spines of almost everyone in the room.

Damien Rice is not only incredibly talented, sensitive and sweet, he’s also rather funny. The flaws actually made the gig more perfect, a bit like his line in 'The Elephants Were Gone’ (I love your depression/I love your double chin).