Sitting in the Corn Exchange in Cambridge, surrounded by students, children and us older ones, Mr E and The Chet made up the whole Eels band. But despite the limited number of musicians on stage – 2 is about as small as a ‘band’ can get – we were not short-changed. After the Dome experience of Alicia Keys a few weeks earlier, this was a very different experience, but somehow a better `performance’ even without the sliding piano and back projection of Key’s Millennium Dome concert.

Miss Keys had given a great performance, but the cheesyness of the `presentation’ had stuck in my throat. But here in a venue a fraction of the size with only basic lighting and no special effects, the audience were delighted with the site of Mr E wandering away from his piano during a long instrumental break, and taking over the drumsticks of The Chet without missing a beat. Whereupon the usurped drummer made his way across the stage to take over at the piano.

I found myself enjoying the shared experience of being in this audience so much more than at the Dome. The authenticity of this performance, in stark contrast to the Gospel film projected at the Dome to provide a background to Alicia’s musical calling, was unmissable. The reading of extracts from Mr E’s recent book by The Chet provided some humour at the blatant plugging of the book, but it also shed some light on what lay behind some of his songs (the suicide of his sister was followed by `Last Stop: This Town’).

The genuine interaction with the audience without a marketing team to subvert the experience, was as great a contrast as an 80′s timeshare salesman trying to get a signature on the dotted line, compared to a friend mentioning he got himself a place in the sun and inviting you to come visit some time soon.

The biggest difference for me was what happened – or more to the point, didn’t happen – following an excellent duet between Keys and the male singer who supported her throughout the performance. At the end of the duet, there was no acknowledgement, thanks or allowing the audience to know his name (until right at the end of the concert out of formality).

As if by allowing some of the applause to go his way, it would dilute her own acclaim. Even though Eels does not exist without Mr E, and The Chet had not been seen before by the Eels fans I was with, the duo came across as a real team, a collaboration, and that in itself pulled the audience in.

In a world where most businesses recognise that team work, and sharing success is integral to working effectively and creating an ethos that will attract strong business partnerships and clients, the Keys concert felt old fashioned and absurd in its contrived attempts to make `a connection’ with the audience. I don’t go to a concert to be `sold’ the performer. I go for the shared experience. Something that Mr E seems to understand well, as The Chet retrieved his drumsticks and sent him back to the piano without a note out of place.

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