Alela Diane at Rough Trade Denmark Street

Alela Diane

Rough Trade Denmark Street, 28 May 2026

Although this is my sixth time seeing the spell-binding Alela Diane, tonight at the small Rough Trade Denmark Street, it's definitely the most intimate show I've ever seen her play, with just 50 people in attendance, and even more exciting, it was completely acoustic, proving what an amazing talent she really is. 

Crazy to think it's actually 17 years since I first saw Alela Diane, funnily enough just around the corner from Denmark Street at a little church called St Giles In The Fields.  She's here tonight all these years on to promote her just released eighth album, Who's Keeping Time?, with this small instore and signing at Rough Trade's newest store on Denmark Street. 

Aside from being opposite a host of music and guitar shops, this Rough Trade is also next to the venue The Lower Third (formerly the 12 Bar Club where I once won tickets to see the Watson Twins play).  As the queue grew there seemed to a lot of younger people and more than 50 people too until it became apparent that the queues for Rough Trade and The Lower Third were getting mixed up! Someone came out and got everyone to separate and queue on opposite ends, thankfully, although those of us in Diane's queue became curious who else was playing. 

It turns out it was a young Canadian hip hop artist called Gunnr, who has rock star looks and obviously a younger, hipper audience. Curious, I played some of his music, to which a young girl in his queue said to her friend, "they are playing Gunnr!" I told her we were here to see someone else and were just wondering what he sounded like. "Oh I thought you were here to see Gunnr too," which I am taking as a massive compliment, as I would surely have been the oldest and uncoolest person if I had accidentally got in to see Gunnr!

I was definitely among my people seeing Diane though and when we finally got in to see the first of two shows she was playing tonight, the woman behind me, upon seeing the small corner Diane would be playing in, delightfully exclaimed, "is this it? It's so tiny!" I certainly wasn't the only one extremely excited to see her play in such a small place.

When she emerged to set up her guitar (no amplification, just a tuning pedal), I had forgotten just how small and petite she is and just how naturally beautiful. She beamed a big smile and asked us how we all were, to which we said "hot!" as there's been a bit of a heatwave in London this week, unusual for May, and I must say, it was swelteringly hot in the store as they had to turn off the air-conditioning (as the show was short it was bearable though and as someone later shouted, totally worth it!).

After tuning up she smiled and began playing Dusty Roses from the new record, her voice ringing beautifully throughout the small store, as she swayed and gently finger-picked and sang a tale of fading memories of childhood.

It was a truly lovely start and she explained she was just going to sing five songs tonight, all from the new record, which was more than fine with me as it's already it's easily one of my favourites this year.

The mood changed to an upbeat one with the charming Could Be, where Diane mused "I could be a mother, I could be a lover, I could be a grandma," breaking into a grin and telling us "it's true" (at 43 she would be a very, very young grandma I must say!" It was warm and feel-good and brought a smile to everyone's faces.

In contrast, she explained how the next song was inspired by current day events and all the terrible things going on in the world, which is obviously something we can all relate to, with the amusingly titled Piss, Coffee, Blood Or Wine? The politically charged song feels like a classic folk protest song yet still has those warm Alela Diane harmonies but also has cutting lyrics like, "A crowd is shouting in the street, while others stare down at their screens, in this land our only home, they line their pockets with our souls, men holding guns and hiding money, always at the church on Sunday." 

So many of Diane's songs have a timeless quality but this one feels special because it does reflect what is happening right now. She sings it with an intensity that reminds me of her first album, The Pirate's Gospel.

The first single from the album, California, she tells us, is about how she still feels a deep connection to the place she grew up in, Nevada City, despite now happily living and raising a family in Portland, Oregon. The song does has a hazy, sunshiny nostalgic feel, like watching old home movies of sunny childhood days, and features some superb whistling by Diane that reminds me a little of the theme tune to the old TV show Shelley (in the best way possible I mean!).

Before the last song Diane has to tune up and because it takes a while she asks if anyone has any questions. Someone pipes up and asks her about her if her cat is really blue (as the photos she posts on her Instagram her cat sometimes has a blue hue). She laughs and explains it's just the light but then goes on to tell us about her two cats and how one, Margaret aka Maggie, regularly terrorises her other cat and her dog and how she has been regulated now to be a strictly upstairs cat! Diane's house is so beautiful, whether the cat is upstairs or down, it sure it one lucky cat, that's for sure! 

Finally, Diane explains that her last song of the night was inspired by her brother and the notion that people in families can grow up together but yet be utterly different people. She tells us that she loves her brother, who works as a mechanic in her old hometown in Nevada City, but they are completely different and contrasting personalities. So of course she wrote a song about it called Wide Open Spaces (which she notes is not the 90s hit by The Chicks!). 

I have two brothers myself, so this tale of sibling connection, really sends chills as she plays it, despite having to start the song as a car alarm was going off! The gentle, intricate picking and Diane's honeyed and clear vocals, sound so lovely on this warm night and as she sings,  "Couldn't be more different, Brother could we, but we both love wild open spaces.. and that’s enough" it brings such a familiar and loving feeling. It's truly beautiful and somehow it's made even more so because of the simplicity of the presentation. 

After Diane signed copies of the new record for the small crowd (the LP was included in the price of the ticket, but some it seems brought her whole back catalogue to sign it seems!)

When it was my turn I told her how I had previously met her and told her how her recommendation of Kate Wolf had been a meaningful discovery for me and had asked her for another, and she had told me to check out Michael Hurley (who died only last year). Diane told me there's a song for him on the new record (Spring Is A Fine Time To Die) and that you can hear his voice on the album.

I asked her, because those recommendations had been so successful, if she had another recommendation for me and she thought for a second and told me, Anna Tivel, who she said is also on the record, so I now have another artist I need to check out and I'm sure I will love thanks to Alela Diane!All in all, this really was such a magical show. Being in such a small room with her, performing so naturally and acoustically, it felt like she was singing just for me and I'm sure every other person in the room felt the same way. There's no doubt, all these years on since I first saw her play live, she is still as wonderful as ever.