FROM THE STREETS TO THE CHAPEL: HARRISON STORM LIVE

LIVE REVIEW | HARRISON STORM w/ Gio Dara | UNION CHAPEL, LONDON | 21st November 2025 by Kevin O’Sullivan

Union Chapel is the kind of venue that doesn’t just host a gig — it transforms it. Last night, the iconic Islington church was glowing with warmth, literal and emotional. The Chapel’s new heaters were working overtime to fight the November chill, Christmas tree and decorations glimmered overhead, and the soft amber glow bouncing off the stained glass made the entire room feel like a sanctuary carved out specifically for folk stories and open-hearted confession. It was the perfect environment for two former buskers — Gio Dara and Harrison Storm — to turn vulnerability into performance and performance into connection.

Gio Dara – A Busker’s Heart, A Rising Stage Presence

Opening the night, Gio Dara walked out with a quiet humility that made immediate sense the moment he introduced himself. Three years ago, he arrived in the UK from Ukraine and began performing on the streets of London — day after day, sometimes three or four shows daily, building an audience one passer-by at a time. Union Chapel was not only the largest venue he’s ever played — it was a far cry from tube stations and market corners — and although a flicker of nerves showed at first, they vanished the second he began his set.

His setlist was a thoughtful sweep through songs that have shaped him:
“Riverflow,” “Now That I Found Her,” “Renegades,” “Alexandra,” and, of course, a crowd favourite — “Stick Season.” Dara’s story of playing the Noah Kahan hit during his busking days (when his long hair made strangers regularly mistake him for Kahan) earned warm laughter from the room, but it was his delivery that made the moment land. His voice, earthy yet lifted by this shimmering clarity, carried beautifully across the Chapel’s vaulted ceiling.

He closed with “Be Mine,” a stripped-back performance — just him, a guitar, and the breathy stillness of the room leaning in. It was here he stepped fully into himself. What began as cautious grew into confident, and by the end, Gio Dara had the entire audience in his hands. Several members of the crowd admitted they’d come specifically for him, drawn by his viral busker videos, but even those unfamiliar beforehand left convinced they’d witnessed the beginning of something significant.

There was a shared sentiment murmured through the pews afterward: If Dara is this good solo, imagine what he’ll be with a full band. He is an exceptional talent, and last night felt like a milestone that will be remembered in his trajectory.

Harrison Storm – A Career-Defining Performance

Headliner Harrison Storm took to the stage next for what he acknowledged was the largest headline show of his career. Even with backstage nerves, Storm walked into the space as if it belonged to him — not with arrogance, but with a deep respect for what rooms like Union Chapel ask of an artist. He was joined by Josh, his lifelong friend (remarkably, performing music together for the first time), and Indyana, a multi-instrumentalist whose guitar and violin work shaped the emotional architecture of the night.

Storm’s set built with quiet confidence, weaving together older favourites and new material. Early on, a tender reimagining of “Feeling You” shimmered with new life thanks to Indyana’s elegant string accompaniment. Storm’s trademark warmth — sincere, unguarded, never overstated — was present in every line he sang.

The narrative thread of his songwriting shone vividly during the middle of the set. “Temporary Friend” explored the transient intimacy of relationships formed on the road. “Someone Else” offered catharsis, written in the aftermath of consoling a friend freshly out of a relationship. “Run,” a track born from being overwhelmed by the world and its noise, carried a raw honesty that reverberated through the Chapel like a quiet plea.

But the defining moment of the night was “Song For Your Love.” Indyana opened with a show-stealing three-minute violin solo — achingly delicate, unforgettable — that cast an almost sacred hush over the room. When Storm entered vocally, it felt like the Chapel itself exhaled. The pairing of his voice and Indyana’s luminous strings created a performance so perfectly suited to the venue that you could feel people involuntarily hold their breath.

Storm closed with “Be Slow,” the fan favourite with over 100 million streams, and the crowd responded in full: singing, swaying, and carrying the weight and warmth of the night with him to the final note.

A Night of Two Artists Rising Fast

There’s something uniquely powerful about watching artists who once performed to uninterested commuters now command audiences in one of London’s most atmospheric venues. Both Storm and Dara share that busker resilience — an ease with silence, a comfort with stillness, an instinctive ability to draw people close.

Harrison Storm, with his emotionally precise songwriting and quietly magnetic stage presence, proved capable of turning his largest headline show into something intimate and unforgettable.

Gio Dara, charismatic and entirely himself, delivered a breakout performance that felt like the start of an exciting ascent. With over 13 million streams on his top track already, that rise seems inevitable.

Together, they created a night that felt both expansive and deeply personal — the kind of show that leaves you stepping out into cold air warmed by something internal, something lodged in the chest. A fantastic evening in a venue that continues to elevate the artists who walk through its doors.

Union Chapel witnessed two careers accelerating last night. And judging by the standing ovations, shared glances, and breathless praise on the way out — everyone there felt privileged to watch it happen.