I spent Valentine's Day getting hot and sweaty in a candlelit room full of roses and heart-shaped balloons.

Sounds good? Oh it was. But not in the way you're thinking. I shared a Chalk Farm pub attic room with a handful of boho music lovers, being serenaded by Elvis Perkins and his Nick Drake-meets-Bob Dylan brooding folk songs.

The evening was a shambolic mess: headline act Adele called in sick, timid Laura Groves sang accompanied by a wailing car alarm, microphone stands collapsed, bright houselights flicked on, organ players went awol, balloons popped and Elvis paused halfway through his first song, scratched his head and muttered through a mouthful of gum, "Oh. That's the wrong key."

Elvis hasn't had the luckiest of lives. His father Anthony Perkins - Norman Bates in Psycho - died of Aids in 1992, and his mother, Berry Berenson, was in the second plane to hit the World Trade Center.

Elvis's heartfelt, bluesy folk music draws on the tragedy he has known, coupled with a powerful bounce and optimism about life's wonderful colour, accentuated by the glorious sweeping melodies and pounding heartbeats of his accompanying three-piece, Dearland.

The animated trio switched between double bass, organ, keyboard, marching drum and bells while Elvis strummed his guitar and sang touching lyrics in a soaring, trembling voice with eyes closed behind John Lennon glasses.

Their passionate performance exploded when Cold War Kids' Jonnie Russell leapt on the stage to play bass and the five men jammed, as we had the sensation of having stumbled into a very personal rehearsal.
Tonight, 2 Haverstock Hill NW3 (020 7485 2659), 7.30pm, £6. Tube: Chalk Farm