Ray Davies, Union Chapel

In a way, I'm kind of cheating. Neither the venue nor seeing this man perform were new experiences for me, but I had such a fab time that I just had to share it with everyone. Shockingly, the Telegraph only gave the gig two stars. Well sucks to be you, Telegraph, I'm with the Guardian - top marks to Mr Davies for a excellent night.

I usually hate the use of this word, but really, Ray Davies is a legend. His music is timeless; in August, "You Really Got Me" will be 50 years old, but whether 1964 or 2014, if it comes on at a party, there's gonna be dancin'.

The Union Chapel is a magical place anyway. So intimate, but also so calm and tranquil. Music resonates in a church like no other venue, and listening to Ray and his two companions on guitars, it was perfect.

This "Americana" tour marks the release of Ray Davies' book of the same name. This book reflects on his love of America as a young boy and teenager, his trips there as a member of The Kinks (including their ban from 1965-69...) and his return for another tour, inconveniently timed in September 2001. On this latter venture stateside he not only witnessed the mourning cities after 9/11, but also he had a transformative experience in New Orleans, where he was shot and nearly lost his life (he can laugh about it now, as he limps on and off the stage, making jokes about new hits like "You Really Shot Me"). Whether good times or bad, it's always come back to the music, inspiring Ray's own songwriting for over five decades.

The evening of music was interjected with Ray reading extracts from the book (including his witty self-commentary), as well as home videos from his time overseas. Although quite lengthy, they were also interesting and informative, and it was great to see the birth of some of his more recent songs which we heard on the night. He hinted at an Americana album, which I'd be excited to hear. Some great songs  he performed were "Voodoo Walk" and "I've Heard That Beat Before".

The movies were informative, the reading was humorous, the new stuff was great, but let's face it, we were all there for one reason... the classics. There's always a little worry with a new tour that the artist might leave them out of the set list, but I fear there would have been blood on the streets of Islington if he had. We got the whole package that night though; sometimes we'd be tricked it into thinking it was something else, then you'd hear a familiar chord and... "The taxman's taken all my dough...." . My highlight, as I knew it would be, was Waterloo Sunset. Certainly one of my desert island discs, I could listen to that record over and over again, but that night, there was an extra something special. Knowing I was sitting there, hearing it live, played by the man who wrote it. Not only that, but we were not very far from Muswell Hill, the influence for so many of The Kinks' songs, and I'd just come from work in Waterloo, commuting through the station like all those millions of people, swarming like flies.

Being a Londoner, I feel hugely privileged to say I've seen one of the frontmen of the British Invasion perform not once now, but twice - he's one of those performers who's still so strong, because he's never really stopped. 

Milton Jones, Union Chapel

On Saturday night I ventured northwards to Islington to have my sides split at Union Chapel. The comedy evening featured a range of comedians including headliner and one of my faves, Milton Jones.

I've been to Union Chapel before, and think it's an absolutely super venue. Previously I'd seen Sir Tom Jones performing his gospel album, for which the converted church was the perfect setting. Whatever you're seeing there, Union Chapel is intimate, relaxed and usually has reasonably priced tickets.

Whilst on the way up there on the bus, two tube lines shut down, meaning the streets, buses and roads were heaving. This unfortunately meant we arrived at the gig about 20 minutes late, and so we missed most of Joe Lycett. But from what I heard from the people around us, he'd had a very successful set, and I did like his last skit about loans and interest rates (Yeah, maybe that was a "had to be there" kind of joke...)

Union Chapel was packed out, so I was surprised to get such great seats; up at the back, but directly opposite the stage. The night was organized by The Invisible Dot, who had brought in comedian Charlie Baker as host. His boisterous and brash jokes certainly had us chuckling, not to mention the skilled musical interludes between him and the house band. They played and sang jazzed up versions of all the Christmas classics, but then again, Charlie’s rendition of “(Cock In The) Eye of the Tiger” would take some explaining!

After the first break came Colin Hoult, who you might know from Being Human or Life’s Too Short. He took us through the horror film “The Rite” and all the reasons we shouldn’t see it, and re-inacted when his family used a ouija board, only to find they were being haunted by a gorilla. His humour was dark and witty, but with some great family impressions thrown in.

I knew of Josie Long before my night at the Chapel (remember the careers advisor in Skins?) but it was great to see her do her stand-up. Having had a landmark birthday last year, her set focused around MSN’s online list of “What To Do Before Your Thirty”, intertwined with some great anecdotes. She’s brilliant with audience interaction, and confessed that her ideal gig would be a thousand specifically tailored jokes and a thousand single, big laughs. I’d love to see Josie perform again.

Then came the act we’d all been waiting for. Dressed in his signature white trainers, jeans and Hawaiian shirt, with bird’s nest hair and deer-in-the-headlights eyes, Milton Jones was everything we had hoped for. I love his play on words and his pace when joke telling, and it's a joy to follow him on Twitter. You’ll be convinced it’s going one way, and you’ve got him sussed, but then from out of the blue he hits you with a completely unexpected punch line.

“I did a gig in Ireland recently and at the end, they all threw shamrocks at me. Turned out, they were real rocks.”

You’re still laughing at the first joke when he’s telling you the fourth. Some were incredibly clever, and others just plain stupid, but I was enjoying them all the same. Most of the one-liners were new, though there were a couple of the classics, like :

“When I was young I had a condition which meant I had to eat soil three times a day. Good thing my older brother told me about it really.”

Like Josie, Milton is also great with a crowd.

Milton : “I was bullied at school…”

Audience : “Awwwwww”

Milton : “… by pirates. You’re not helping.”

Though he was only on stage for half an hour, we must have heard a hundred jokes. He sloped back off stage just like he’d sloped on, leaving us all mopping our eyes and trying to hide our embarrassing snorts.

Great comics, great gig, great venue. I can’t wait to return to Union Chapel in the New Year.