Music, as Madonna opined, makes the people come together. But it can also baffle you if it's a form that leaves you cold.

Tonight Owen and I went to see Jesse Malin at the Islington Academy. Now I must admit that up until a few months ago I had never heard of him but when it was announced that his GB tour drummer was going to be none other than power thumper Brian Viglione from The Dresden Dolls we thought it would be good to see him with someone other than Amanda Palmer.

Jesse Malin hails from Queens NY and seems to be cut from the same blue collar cloth as Bruce Springsteen. The songs were certainly put across with a passion and commitment and one or two I enjoyed while listening to them but on the whole it sounded like so much white boy guitar rock. It was odd to physically and mentally stand to one side and watch the audience singing and clapping along and wonder what on earth can inspire them about these songs. Oh and he kept standing in the way of Brian.

Now I can honestly say I've never been to a gig just to see a member of the band before but Brother Viglione is no ordinary musician. He created a sound and a fury behind the songs that propelled them along and he was fun to watch with his dramatic swooping arm movements and seeing him rise up from behind the kit as he build to yet another thundering finish.

Afterwards Brian quickly posed for photos with some young shaggers in the front row but disappeared off to the back of the stage and we thought we had missed our chance to say hello. Malin was signing at his merch stall (which was nice of him) but this blocked the exits so we stood for a while by the auditorium doors. Owen then saw Brian inside talking to a woman. By the time we raced back up the stairs he had disappeared again and a security guard asked why we were coming back in "He's behind you signing stuff" to which I replied with amazement "We don't want him... we want the drummer!" Frustrated again we desolately put our cds away.... just as the security guard appeared at the door pointing us out to Brian who came out and, despite being shirtless in the draft of the open exit doors, signed our cds and shook our hands thanking us profusely for coming to see him.

It's official... Brian Viglione is my favourite drummer of all time.