As on her Radio 1 show, DJ Jo Whiley makes bands go into busking mode at her Little Noise Sessions, an annual series of charity gigs where even the seating is stripped down to the basics.

Among the rigid pews of Islington’s Union Chapel, rock heavyweights including The Killers and Razorlight have already played rare intimate sets in the past few days, and previous years have even seen U2 and Coldplay turning up for an unannounced strum. Whiley is not afraid to batter her address book for a good cause.

Occasionally she can be guilty of simply booking an act for their size rather than suitability to the largely acoustic setting. Here both the main attractions benefited from turning down the volume.

Fun without flash was the goal, and there is no one in music less flashy than 57-year-old “Seasick” Steve Wold. With his trucker’s cap, braces dangling round his shapeless jeans, and the kind of rectangular beard that looked like you could yank it off, he summoned a bare-bones boogie from his three-stringed guitar.

The Californian’s foot-stomping blues have made him a major live draw in this country, if not in his homeland, where this kind of thing is much less of a novelty. He made the most of his sparse set-up here, creeping deep into the crowd to sing unamplified, and singling out a young lady to charm with lovesick ballad Walking Man.

Headliners the Stereophonics brought the whole band along but still played it plain. “We’re going to play some fast songs slow for you,” singer Kelly Jones promised.

Though their guitar work was rudimentary next to Seasick Steve’s, the toned-down backdrops for hits such as Just Looking and Dakota allowed the weight to be carried by Jones’s classic rock rasp, easily the most remarkable thing about this often unremarkable band.

They fluffed intros, cracked jokes and seemed delightfully relaxed. The setting, and sound, suited them nicely. Sometimes simplicity is the best policy.