Elisa Bray: It's really hard to go wild at a pop concert in a church

(PA)

Halfway through a spectacular gig last month, I began to wish that I had brought a squishy cushion and a warm jumper. No, I wasn't at a festival or an outdoor gig, I was sitting in a pew at St Giles in the Fields Church in London. It might have been more comfortable if we'd had a drink, but no bar was in sight. "It's a church," was the staff's disapproving response. The things we'd brought with us – a chocolate bar and an even less offensive bottle of water – had all been removed by zealous staff on our way in.

Don't get me wrong: I'm not a fussy gig-goer. The acoustics in churches are wonderful and the stunning setting does make for an intimate and unique gigging experience. But this must be how frustrated pub-going smokers felt post the smoking ban. At gigs, people drink beer. That doesn't make the average gig-goer an alcoholic – it's all part of the experience. And that particular evening, it wasn't a church service; it was California psych-folk musician Alela Diane's gig.

Diane's gig was the last at St Giles in the Fields, but in recent years, gigs in churches have become an increasing phenomenon. The Union Chapel, in Islington, north London, opened its doors to bands in 1991 and in recent months has welcomed acts as diverse as Razorlight (acoustic), Herman Dune and Natacha Atlas. There, the public can buy beer in the upstairs bar, though the rules have changed. Where gig-goers used to be able to take drinks downstairs to the church hall while they watch the bands, now all drinks must be consumed in the separate bar. LSO St Lukes, in Old Street, north London, must be the rare exception to such rules.

But lack of beer is not the only limitation of a church gig. Rock and pop acts performing live rely on a rapport with their audience, which is difficult to attain when everyone is sitting silently. I haven't been to one gig in a church where the artist hasn't stopped, peered awkwardly at the polite crowd, and made some joke about everyone being quiet as if they're in church. Gigs are about so much more: the atmosphere and the sense of communication with the crowd. If I just wanted to listen to the music, I'd put the CD on at home. And when it comes to atmosphere, nothing beats the surroundings of a small to medium-sized murky gig venue which has the history of well-known bands playing over the years.

St Giles in the Fields stopped hosting gigs due to the potential damage to the building from noise, equipment shifting and lighting, says Howard Monk who runs the promotion company The Local.

"The job of a promoter is putting things on in interesting spaces. A church is a different kind of space. That's the excitement. It has to suit the artist. It's less appropriate to put a rock'n'roll gig in a church – it's just too heavy. And bits of slate falling off the roof is a problem. In the past, the Union Chapel had problems with that and closed for a while."

Monk reels off a list of other unusual venues that The Local and other promoters have concocted to host gigs: The Crypt at London's Essex Road, a library in Crouch End, and an old cattle market in Aberdeen. It's not just indoor venues, either. The Forestry Commission started hosting gigs in 2001 across the country's woods and forests, and each year have more high profile acts performing than the last, with nine this year including Doves, Human League and David Gray. In a bid to attract fans, the young Manchester indie rock band The Answering Machine have decided to start performing gigs at youth clubs.

Of course, it's not all about the excitement value. When it comes to live music, it's not the impressive building that matters, it's atmosphere, rapport with the audience and sound quality. Keep up the interesting venues, but please let us have a pint of beer.