Ever wondered what it would be like to be “that” person? I have, I’ll be honest I’ve avoided it like the plague for as long as I possibly could but I nearly crossed that threshold about 6 weeks ago. I was almost the idiot!

What happened was this, I “umm’d and ahh’d” over spending 80 quid and a bit of change on 2 tickets to go see one of my favourite humans in the World, playing his only UK solo show. It still give me shivers to think I nearly passed up this chance.

Sometimes Henshaw you frighten me!!

Having seen sense and with my 2 QR code tickets floating around in my phone held in my hot, sticky , excited little hand we headed to London for an evening of beauty and brilliance in the company of Mr Decemberists himself, Colin Meloy.

Obviously our train was cancelled as things like this are never easy but the spanner hoyed into the works was sorted swiftly and the resulting drive to Potters Bar and then a train to Highbury full of Gooners fans was taken in our strides. Arsenal were at home that night but the journey was delightful if not a little fraught. The reason for the concern had nothing to do with football but being desperate for a pee. I had managed to stand directly by a toilet on the platform, spending my time complaining about the lack of toilets only noticing I was 3 feet from one as the trains arrival was announced over the station pa. Much to Angie’s dismay I knew I had to go, I ran in, unzipped, pushed as hard as I can for an aging gent and made the train (Obviously sorting my clothing out before leaving the loo)

Now, I am a long term Decemberists fan, They are a truly beautiful band, lyrical, clever with an exquisite sound and Colin Meloy’s Portland Oregon dulcet tones dripping from their genius. When I say Genius I mean it, they are, they are so good they have regularly have me in tears. It was always going to be a good night, to have Mr Meloy playing solo in the amazing setting of Union Chapel. If you’ve never been please do, its a magical place where magical things happen.

Kicking off with an intimate cover of The La’s Timeless Melody we didn’t even need the harmonica solo which was mistakenly missing but Colin was relaxed enough to point out the fact he’d forgotten to put it on mid song. This reaffirmed to me the gig was going to be exactly as I’d hoped, a recreation of one of the Covid lockdown live streams Colin streamed which underpinned my personal success in “making it through the lockdown”

I’m not going to wax on about the songs but each was delivered with an ease you don’t see everywhere. We could have been sat in a bar watching in an audience of 5 or sat at a campfire jamming and chatting shit over a beer and shots, it was that easy.

“Lake Song”, “Carolina Low” and my personal favourite “A Beginning Song” and a host of other songs, not always the expected but let be honest here, the gig could have been 5 hours long and we’d still not have had all the favourites played for us.

As Colin announced that he was about to play the last song after checking just how strict the curfew was, the lady in front of me decided that this was the exact time to shout a request. Colin obliged and gladly for her and sadly for us “After the bombs” was played to end the evening and the rest of us didn’t get to hear “The Mariners Revenge”

A true masterclass in showmanship, crowd reading and musical and lyrical brilliance. Thank you, if it was possible I’m a bigger fan today than I was before

I’d have taken “Mariners” over “Bombs” all day long though, just saying