TOM JONES' ALTAR STAGE INVASION FEATURING JO WHILEY'S MUM + PULP'S BEST. NEWS. EVER. + BRAINY AKALA + THE REVENGE OF D:REAM

TOM Jones set ageing pulses racing at Islington’s Union Chapel on Monday night as he headlined the first night of the magical Mencap Little Noise Sessions.

At Paolo Nutini’s gig the next night, my spies tell me Radio 1 DJ Jo Whiley confessed her mum stormed the stage when the irresistible Mr Jones was playing – bear in mind the stage is an altar – these Jones fans are wild.


Here's Mr Jones with Green Green Grass of Home, his encore.
• My fave up-and-comers, quirky, Louis le Prince play cult venue The Lexington (Nov 24). If you’re looking for one new band to adopt, this is it.

• The Electric Ballroom’s got a mighty list of gigs on its way – Kele (Bloc Party) plays Friday, The Fall (Nov 23) and The Tallest Man on Earth (Nov 24).

• In case you’ve been living on another planet I’d like to point out that Pulp are reforming and headline Wireless next year – Best. News. Ever. My fave song’s Babies, what’s yours? PS 02 Academy Islington’s great club night Feeling Gloomy hosts Pulp’s Wireless launch party on Saturday – prizes, surprises and rare Pulp records played early.

• Akala’s sooo brainy and a good guy, not like those bad rappers you read about in the papers. He’s been teaching schoolkids hip-hop Shakespeare – check out his cerebral lyrical dexterity at the British Library (Nov 26).

• I’ve not been complimentary about D:Ream in the past and it seems they’re taking revenge. The checky-trousered dance act, which I hold personally responsible for the birth of Blair, (Tony, not the one-hit-wonder of Have Fun Go Mad obscurity), have managed to convince former keyboarder Brian Cox now a widely respected physicist to abandon sanity and reform – songs from new album “In Memory Of...” (I’d stop there) will be performed at 02 Academy Islington (Dec 1).

CAMDEN - WHERE YOU KNOW EVERYBODY'S NAME, DJ YODA'S BIG SCREEN MOMENT + THEE DEADTIME PHILHARMONIC

WATCHING Fight Like Apes at Barfly last week, I found myself standing next to DJ Steve Lamacq. I thanked him for introducing me to so much new music during my teens when he co-hosted Radio One’s Evening Sessions with Jo Whiley. 

Outside after the gig, I spot FLA’s fierce frontwoman MayKay chatting to Lamacq inches from the front door. I stop in at The Enterprise on my way home and see The Bluetones’ frontman Mark Morris chatting in the bar after his solo show upstairs. 

Yes, there are other venues where you can get close to the acts you so admire but Camden has such a concentration of good venues, each so close to each other and with the pulling power to attract bands who,
elsewhere wouldn’t consider playing such petite shows. You never know who’ll be standing next to you in the crowd – a few years ago at The Dublin Castle, it was David Schwimmer – moany Ross from Friends – watching Amy Winehouse at the Camden Crawl – wouldn’t let us take his pic though. Just wanted to remind you why Camden’s so great!
• Thee Deadtime Philharmonic play the Dublin Castle (Oct 2) and they’re expecting all sorts of muso types to turn up. They’ve held the number one slot on Strummerville’s fan download chart for nearly a year and have supported Mick Jones in the past – see if they’re worth their place.
• Inventive turntablist DJ Yoda takes over Everyman Hampstead (Nov 17) and Screen on the Green (Nov 18). He’s bringing AV Stop Look & Listen tour into our cinemas but how’s it gonna work? Will there be raving in the aisles? Glow-in-the-dark popcorn?