Hoxton is a strange little world where I rarely venture even though it’s about ten minutes on the bus from chateau Mac Uaid. You have to be seriously trendy and hold strong opinions on graphic design to gain admission. At weekends there is a perimeter fence and you are searched to make sure you are carrying at least 20 grammes of cocaine and that your underwear costs at least £60. The rules are relaxed during the week which allowed me to sneak in to see Charlotte Hatherley.

Even her best friends will admit that Charlotte is not quite a household name yet. I’ve got a hunch that she never will be. Prior to going solo she played guitar terrifically with Ash. More of them next week. The set we got was not the set I was expecting. I’d gone looking for jangly indie pop of the type that I heard on the radio and that you can hear on her site. The moral is read the artist’s website more carefully because it was clearly billed as an acoustic show.

It was a pleasant show. Charlotte and her friend Charlie were both on guitar and almost seemed to be there by chance. By some distance the strongest song in the set was her version of Outdoor Miner and it got the biggest cheer. Listen to it on the video. This must be upsetting for any performer who pours out their emotions into writing songs only to find that your audience thrills to a cover of a pretty obscure track. I’m not convinced that the majority of her songs stand up too well when performed acoustically. Either that or I was looking for the less cerebral gratification that comes from the sound of firmly struck guitars with a bass and drums behind them.

She’s supporting Blondie later in the year and will probably need a band behind her to hold that crowd.