Kasier Chiefs - Tuesday 12th December - St Luke's Church, Chelsea

Brief review:  The annual Nordoff and Robbins Christmas Carol concert this year featured Yorkshire favourites Kaiser Chiefs, Beverley Knight, Ayanna Witter-Johnson, Joe Stilgoe, Carrie and David Grant plus readings from Ronni Ancona.

The well attended event in Chelsea was hosted by the Beverley Knight and the ever jovial Joe Stilgo who also performed some songs. The featured acts included Ayanna Witter-Johnson who did a cello led rendition of the Police's Roxanne and a piano based Paul McCartney cover which to be honest I did not recognise until the words "Simply having a wonderful Christmas time" were sung, so different from the original was the arrangement.

Headliners Kaiser Chiefs were on good form in their brief set with engaging frontman Ricky Wilson utilising the full length of the Church during "I Predict A Riot". Mince pies and mulled wine followed and a good time was had by all for an excellent cause.

Venue and View:  Premium pew seats! About 5 rows back on the floor of the church

Setlist (Ayanna Witter-Johnson)
Roxanne
Wonderful Christmas Time

Setlist (Kaiser Chiefs)
Love's Not a Competition (But I'm Winning)
Ruby
I Predict a Riot
Coming Home

Nordoff Robbins Christmas Carols - Tuesday 13th December - St Lukes Church, Chelsea

Brief review:  A charity evening in Chelsea. Purchased initially as The Who were meant to be performing, but they dropped out for unexplained reasons. We decided to go anyway and support the charity who do excellent musical therapy work - primarily with disabled youngsters. As well as some traditional Christmas Carols and readings in this grand location, there were 2 "substitute" guests.

First up was Richie Sambora (ex Bon Jovi guitarist and songwriter). Richie has had some well documented addiction issues in the past and let's just say he appeared a little "distracted" here and provoked a few mutterings around us. His choice of a guitar pedal that attempted to convert the sound into a Church organ effect just about worked on the first number - Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah", but soon became quite grating on the Bon Jovi numbers. Being a fan of both JBJ and Richie from years gone by, the performance - whilst unique (and for a good cause) - was quite a disappointment.

By contrast, other than observing that Nile Rodgers seems to be the darling of the BBC (can a charity concert they broadcast be performed without him and / or Emeli Sandé?), I had reasonably low expectations. He always comes across as a decent bloke, but doesn't really play the style of music I go for. Credit where credit is due though, he and the 2 singers (under the guise of "Chic") were excellent, basically serving up a mini "Greatest Hits" set of songs he wrote or co-wrote. You wouldn't really catch me dancing at the best of times, but his excellence as a musician shone through.

Mince pies and mulled wine followed and we even saw the BBC's Wendy Hurrell who had done an interview slot early for BBC London. Bearing in mind some of the rubbish that BBC London News frequently send her to, hopefully this was a more enjoyable evening for her as it was for the rest of us.

Venue and View:  Right hand side on ground floor, pews at the front (just behind sponsors)

Setlist - Nile Rodgers and Chic 
Everybody Dance
We Are Family
Get Lucky
Le Freak
Good Times / Rapper's Delight
We Wish You a Merry Christmas

Setlist - Richie Sambora 
Hallelujah
It's My Life
Wanted Dead or Alive
I'll Be There for You
Livin' on a Prayer