The Coral triumphed at a very special one-off show in the capital last night (July 29).

The Wirral five-piece performed an acoustic set at the grand surroundings of the Coliseum in Covent Garden, London – a venue that's usually home to the English National Opera.

The band typically relied on their music to do the talking rather than crowd interaction as they rattled through a set heavy with hits.

Tracks including 'Dreaming of You', 'In The Morning', 'Bill McCai', 'Goodbye' and an impressive 'Shadows Fall' - before which singer James Skelly said “This is the first thing we ever released, for anyone who bought it” - all got an airing.

The show was scheduled ahead of the release of their 'Singles Collection' album which is released on September 15 through Deltasonic.

As well as playing the lead single for the album 'Being Somebody Else' a number of new tracks were aired which received a rapturous response from the audience.

They also performed a rousing rendition of 'Everybody's Talking' by one of James Skelly's "favourite songwriters" Fred Neil.

Despite rumours on fan forums that Noel Gallagher would appear as the band's 'special guest', it was the long-term producer Ian Broudie of The Lightning Seeds fame who performed with the band.

(by Scott Colothan)