Played in King's College Chapel last night

It looks like this:

It was part of King's Affair, their end-of-year party. And when I say party I mean mini-festival except a lot colder and with no tents. Myself and Rhodri Karim, who is currently staying on my floor due to accomodation difficulties, rocked up about midnight, and once inside we were instantly shaken by the wobbles of dubstep and the clicky glitches of electro house colliding in the air. The windows of the college literally rattled as we headed across the main court to the green room, under laser beams and disco lights and projections of weird images across the fronts of buildings. Burgers were being cooked, laser quest was being played, jacket potatoes were being ignored. Everywhere were drunken students, dressed in fancy clothes and costumes, facepaint, wigs and cardboard boxes. It was great. DJ Derek was there.

I was onstage at 1:30 am in the chapel. It was a good atmosphere, a space like that always is, but there was no microphone, so I ended up having to rely on my wits and my lungs to put on a good show that everyone could hear. I had to literally herd people forwards so that they could hear the guitar, because although a chapel has an amazing acoustic for voice, it's less good for guitar strings. I also walked among the crowd for some numbers, just cos I could. In some ways it's liberating not to be amplified, you have to invent new ways to involve the audience - talk to them a lot more, make more jokes, to keep their attention. Kind of like if you've ever seen a street performer keeping up a commentary while they juggle. It's to keep you watching whilst they prepare the trick, and make you focus more on what they're doing whilst they do it. I've watched quite a few street performers here in Cambridge, cos they come for the tourist dollar, and the best ones keep a flow of jokes and audience interaction going at all times. It's something I admire and have often tried to emulate.

After the set, myself and Rhodri reclined in the courtyard with a Hookah pipe and several beverages, seated upon cushions. Faith Taylor played after me, she has a lovely voice, and isn't too bad on the guitar either. When the sun began to rise we decided to call it a night, and walked back through empty streets just as the birds began to sing. It is a lovely thing to see the sun rise in Cambridge.

[Update] Got papped. Many thanks to Alice Duncan for the photo: