I was one of the 40 or so people at last night’s Luna Rossa concert in Cardiff. In a city of 350,000 people you would have thought a few more might have turned up. Still those of us who did were in for a treat.
 
Luna Rossa are a “side project” of keyboard player Jonathan Edwards and singer / multi-instrumentalist Anne-Marie Helder of Panic Room. Luna Rossa exists because it’s not Panic Room, maybe because of this they did not attract a some Panic room fans but a significant portion of the audience were wearing T-shirts proclaiming their selves to be Uber-Roomies. May be niche side project of a niche band relying on self-promotion is doomed to tiny audiences?
 
But onto brighter things, we were treated to an evening of genre deifying, intimate acoustic music in a small candlelit venue with the majority of the audience sat around tables. Just taking in a view of the stage before they started gave an indication of the eclectic nature of what was in store. A celtic harp, a Grand Piano, a Rhodes, several acoustic guitars, a flute and a double bass. microphone stands and the harp were wrapped in vines.
 
Sarah Dean kicked off with a short solo set of harp and vocals. Her version of Dylan’s “Man in a Long Black Coat” was a highlight for me.
 
For the Luna Rossa set Helder and Edwards were joined by Dean and bass player ‘Wal’ Coughlan. Instrumentally Edwards’ piano is foremost with some thoughtful interplay with Dean’s harp throughout. Helder adds guitar, flute and that voice! The songs are gentler and quieter than Panic Room and for the most part show a different side of Anne-Marie than the one I saw at a recent Panic room gig.
 
The majority of the material was from the two albums, but there were a couple of new songs. There was an audible raising of massed eyebrows when the band launched into a cover of Abba’s “Winner Takes it All” impeccable sung with a jazz vibe. There was also an excellent cover of Richard Thompson’s “Dimming of the Day”. "Black Dog" was not THAT "Black Dog"
 
The encore featured a bit of Christmas silliness. Helder’s “Happy Little Song” (“probably the most annoying song ever written” she explained “I knew it would be as I was writing it.”) in medley with Rudolph the “Red Nose Reindeer” and “Silent Night” the latter played with a upbeat, slightly reggae vibe.
 
There is still a chance to catch them at Bilston on the 13^th I hope a few more turn up there!

Nice to be part of that Glyn, even though there were so few people with you.
 
I saw John Martyn many years ago at  Cheltenham Town Hall. He'd probably become aware of the lack of ticket sales and requested that the seating rows be taken out and replace with round tables, each with a wine bottle/candle in the centre. Best atmosphere in a gig I've been to, so nice to chat to other people who would have normally have been seated left or right of you. Great performance too, he was on fire that night.

Another thing with such a small crowd is they are all fans and enthusiatic. little or no chatting in the background and fiddeling with phones that dogged some concerts I have been to recently. Eric Clapton in Dubai was marred by incessent chatter in the crowd.
I found this review of last years concerts . Its longer and more detailed but I was staggered by how close it was to mine.