Mark Oliver Everett at St James's Church

On Thursday night I went to church.

And Pete Townshend, from The Who, was in the congregation. At one stage he even did a reading.

But before you think I've gone all religious on you, let me explain.

It was a book-launch-come-gig by Mark Oliver Everett, better known as 'E' from the Eels, an American rock band which is essentially Everett and an ever-changing cast of musicians.

Everett is kind of flavour of the month right now, having recently starred in a BBC 4 documentary called Parallel Worlds, Parallel Lives about his father, the late quantum physicist Hugh Everett III, who was the originator of the many-worlds theory.

Last week he also published a memoir, Things the Grandchildren Should Know, about his unconventional life in which his father died of a heart attack, his mother died of lung cancer, his drug-addicted older sister committed suicide and his air stewardess cousin died in the plane that crashed into the Pentagon on 9/11.

Going to this gig wasn't high on my list of priorities. I know little about the Eels except for the creepy CD cover for Beautiful Freak (the one with the little girl who has enlarged eyes) and a handful of songs, but T is a fan and bought me a ticket to go with him. There really wasn't an excuse not to go and, if truth be known, I couldn't resist the lure of receiving a free book as part of the deal.

However, after a long stressful day at work I wasn't really in the mood to queue up in the dark and the cold with several hundred other people to get into the venue. Once inside it was a different story. St James's Church, which was designed by Sir Christopher Wren in the 17th century, is gorgeous. We sat on a hard wooden pew, the altar just a few feet away, and marvelled at the lovely stained glass windows, the Corinthian columns and barrel-vaulted nave.

When the lights went down and E came on 'stage' it felt special, but I couldn't quite reconcile my preconceptions that churches are for religious worship and not rock music concerts. A couple of songs in and I got over my this-doesn't-quite-feel-right mood and thoroughly enjoyed the music, the acoustics and, indeed, the beautiful setting.

The set list was interspersed with readings from the book. The readings were done by volunteers in the audience, because E didn't want it to be "pretentious" -- and these worked beautifully. Although when Pete Townshend volunteered to read the final excerpt I couldn't help but wonder how pre-ordained his choice had been (Townshend is quoted on the book's blurb -- "One of the best books ever written by a contemporary artist" -- and he is thanked on the author's acknowledgements page).

Still, when the gig came to a close I'd been won over by the heartfelt music -- lush guitars, pounding, rythymic piano -- E's incredibly powerful voice and the book.

We then had to wait for the pre-arranged book signing to begin. Because T and I were among the first 200 (number 197 and 198 respectively) to arrive at the venue we'd each been given a wrist band entitling us to get our books signed. A bevvy of Waterstone's staff co-ordinated the queue, making sure everyone had their names written on little pink sticky notes. These were stuck inside the book so that E could autograph the title page quickly without him having to ask who you were and who you wanted it dedicated to.

We were near the front of the queue, so when E eventually made an appearance and sat down in his chair, pen at the ready, it didn't take long before I was thrusting my copy in his direction.

"Hi Kim!" he beams at me. "Enjoy the gig?"

"Yes, thanks. It was excellent."

"Great."

Cue about two seconds of silence which I felt compelled to fill with the first thing that came out of my mouth. "You're going to get a sore hand," I mutter, referring to the long line of book-hugging people behind me eagerly awaiting his autograph.

"Ah, that's what mama always told me!" He then delivers my book back to me with a cheeky wink.

Quite frankly, I'm amazed that St James's Church is still standing, because between my attendance and E making a joke about masturbation, I half expected the wrath of that bearded bloke in the sky to come pouring down. But God moves in mysterious ways, right?

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Here's some other takes on the gig

• Aloud.com review
• NME review
• This Is London review

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Update: Read my review of the book on Reading Matters

Comments

[shauna]

oooh that all sounds great... I saw that documentary and was curious about the book so am off to read your review :)

[Red Ink]

I'd be a bit dissapointed that Pete didn't show some porn movies or smash a guitar on the altar. I guess he had his hands full.

[Kinuk]

That really does sound like a great gig...N is a huge fan of The Eels, too, so he'd have loved the whole thing.

Me, I just like the many-worlds theory.

[kimbofo]

Shauna, the gig was amazing... I'm still thinking about it days later. And the book is fab. Very quirky and refreshing. He's a real "never say die" sort of bloke. I think you'd like the book ... it reminds me, in a funny sort of way, of yours!

Red Ink, you are cheeky!

Kinuk, have you seen the documentary he made about his father? You'd like it...

[Kinuk]

No, I haven't. Better look into that! Thanks!