Paolo Nutini delivers hit after hit at the Eden Sessions

Living in Plymouth a relative stones throw away from St Austell's Eden Project, I had never previously attended any of the Eden Sessions. Despite always hearing raving feedback of both quality line ups and the stunning venue, I had always stuck a lot closer to home with gigs at Plymouth's Pavilions, with the odd venture to big events in the bigger cities afar. More fool me… Boy have I been missing out and on my very own doorstep too!

As a major well-known tourist attraction in its own right, the venue was very easy to find with lots of permanent dedicated signage on the route in. Scenic roads and the ease of locating this event made the journey there stress free and pleasurable. Once within the beautiful forestry embedded complex itself we were soon met with friendly, smiley traffic stewards who promptly guided us to the parking area, not your normal run of a mill mass site car parking but instead pristine rows of extremely well maintained, gravel laid avenues, separated by the lush greenery of trees. Much thought has obviously been given to their first impressions and it works. Each parking section was identifiable with signs to aid you in relocating your vehicle, not by the normal numbers or letters but quaintly with various fruit upon them. The walk from car to main gate was again very well maintained and surrounded in stunning greenery if not some what steep. However parking a lot closer to the gatehouse for disabled patrons was well sign posted at entry.

Once through the main entry point which was an impressive glass walled building, and having to abide with the normal bag searches which was well organised and swift. We found ourselves stepping out to behold the awesomely stunning Eden Project itself. A previously disused giant quarry now terra formed into a colossal garden of splendour. The gigantic Bio-domes are a marvel and despite their space age look sit effortlessly in amongst the tranquil lush surroundings, simply breath taking!

After taking in the views from up on high we then began to make our way down the terraced slopes in to the bowl itself. We did notice on the left far side dedicated mini buses for those less able to make the trek down. Within the various gardens was set the dome shaped stage, which was well fitting to the Bio-domes that effortlessly back dropped it. The large standing area before the stage was set on a gradual slope aiding the viewing experience of those further back which I personally thought was genius for an out side event, which you normally find on flatter sites. All up one side was a separate family viewing area set under tidy small-framed trees for cover. The other side seemed to be dedicated to disabled gig goers with an elevated terraced area with the far end of the arena being a more gradient hill allowing viewers the opportunity to enjoy the show sat down on blankets with out compromising loss of sight to the stage.

To kick off the show an unlisted warm up artist by the name of Ruarri Joseph, a local talent whose uplifting character and performance seriously impressed us; a skilful solo guitarist and singer who undoubtedly will have a rewarding future, one to keep an eye out for, well I shall be at least. After a very brief lull, Martha Wainwright took the stage as the main support act. For me personally this was a poor choice as her style and music seemed to dampen down the tempo and atmosphere, which was previously laid down so well by the talented Ruarri Joseph. This however is just my opinion and many others obviously enjoyed her set.

During her performance we took the opportunity to venture round and explore a little. With a thirst on and rumbles in our tumbles and with the aid of well-signed boards we negotiated our way rounds the beautiful gardens to find the food and drink vendors. These were located in various well-presented stalls with not a single burger van in sight thankfully, serving some yummy delights like paella and falafels. There was however the more traditional pasties and chips, pizzas etc being served from the on site café restaurant complex. Beer, cider and various wines were also readily available. Service was swift and operated by a token-based system purchased from separate stalls. Alcoholic drinks were a set £3.50 while soft drinks were £1.50 per token. Toilet facilities were the usual green porta-loos located to the rear of the stage area, which although I did not use seemed to be clean enough as we passed them. Once our thirst and hunger was quenched we made our way back to the stage arena area to eagerly await the main event!

With the anticipation of Paolo Nutini being imminent the crowd was obviously hyped, a great mix of young and old smiling faces packed the sold out arena with out the sense of overcrowding. Paolo with his gravely Scottish tones along with his band defiantly owned the stage and the audience. From the off he maintained and escalated the crowds revelry with hit after hit until the very end. He is definitely an artist fully at home with the live circuit and the skills to back to it up.

An impressively well performed set at an equally impressive venue that left us on a high, heading home with big cheesy grins. I have signed up to The Eden Sessions mailing list and will definitely be looking towards Eden's direction for further gig ventures, why I have never done so before I do not know. An outstanding unique venue location that simply has the ability to host such sessions and do so flawlessly, they defiantly have it all wrapped up.

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