Charlotte Church Plays First U.S. Gig After Eight Years

By Amber James Posted Dec 9th 2010 01:30PM

Charlotte Church went back to basics last night for her first U.S. performance in eight years. Accompanied by her guitarist boyfriend Jonathan Powell, Church performed an acoustic set around 12:30 AM for an intimate crowd at The Eldridge in New York's Lower East Side. From the first note, her soprano voice echoed through the small venue, proving she's still got it.

Crowds would never know the last minute performance was put together in two days, and she'd only done a sound check a few hours prior.

"We didn't rehearse much, but f*** it," Church told the crowd.

Although Church has put her classical career on hold, her upbeat pop songs still showcased her enchanting voice, as she performed seven tracks including:

Only Bruises
Unraveling
Story of Us
Snow
Cold California
Don't Think About It
Pie Jesu

Church, 24, has sold more than 11,000,000 albums worldwide, but her career had taken a backseat as the media devoted endless stories about her tepid relationship with now ex-boyfriend Gavin Henson, a Welsh rugby union player. The couple have two children together, Ruby, 3, and Dexter, 1, but split in May.

"I wanted people to focus on my music, but things haven't turned out that way. I've become a soap star. It's not what I wanted, but I have to get on with it," Church recently told UK's Daily Mail.

She is now dating Powell, whom she worked with on her latest album 'Back To Scratch' -- her first album in five years. Throughout the set, the pair smiled and joked between themselves, showing they're clearly in love.

She ended her performance with one of the first classical numbers she ever performed, 'Pie Jesu.' Only one note in, her voice shook the room, and the tabloid fodder dissolved.

Church is back and ready to prove she's here's to stay.

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Charlotte Church

Charlotte Church poses for a photo at The Eldridge on December 8, 2010 in New York City. More photos >>

WireImage

Charlotte Church Snapshots

NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 08: Charlotte Church poses for a photo at The Eldridge on December 8, 2010 in New York City. (Photo by Jerritt Clark/WireImage)

Charlotte Church Snapshots

NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 08: Charlotte Church poses for a photo at The Eldridge on December 8, 2010 in New York City. (Photo by Jerritt Clark/WireImage)

Charlotte Church Snapshots

NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 08: Charlotte Church poses for a photo at The Eldridge on December 8, 2010 in New York City. (Photo by Jerritt Clark/WireImage)

Charlotte Church Snapshots

©BAUER-GRIFFIN.COM 2010 Q Awards with Russian Standard Vodka at the Grosvenor House in Park Lane Picture Shows: Charlotte Church NON-EXCLUSIVE October 25, 2010 Job: 101025X1 London, England www.bauergriffin.com www.bauergriffinonline.com [KGC-31]

Charlotte Church Snapshots

British singer Charlotte Church arrives at the Q Music Awards 2010, at Grosvenor House, central London, Monday Oct. 25, 2010. (AP Photo/Joel Ryan)

Charlotte Church Snapshots

Charlotte Church sighted outside BBC Radio One on September 18, 2010 in London, England. Celebrity Sightings In London - September 18, 2010 London, England United Kingdom September 18, 2010 Photo by Fred Duval/FilmMagic.com To license this image (61714919), contact FilmMagic.com

Charlotte Church Snapshots

LONDON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 16: Singer Charlotte Church poses backstage after performing her new album 'Back To Scratch' at The Pigalle Club on September 16, 2010 in London, England. (Photo by Simone Joyner/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Charlotte Church

Charlotte Church Snapshots

LONDON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 16: Singer Charlotte Church debuts her new album 'Back To Scratch' at The Pigalle Club on September 16, 2010 in London, England. (Photo by Simone Joyner/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Charlotte Church

Charlotte Church Snapshots

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Comments

(7)

Thursday 09 December

By nitin

Lowest Rank Vote down Vote up Report this

do u kiss momy w/ that foul mouth young lady.
bet dhe came out of retirement when she saw the 7yr old who beat susan boyle.

By Bond

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Apparently you don't know what you are talking about. That was proven that she was misquoted in the UK back when that happened. If you had a clue about anything, you would be deadly.

By bluedun

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Beautiful girl, lovely voice but deduct the filthy mouth language, and you have nothing~

By AP

She still has the beautiful voice and beautiful looks, potty mouth or not. I would hardly call that having nothing if she's sold that many records over the years. Sounds like more than YOU have...

Friday 10 December

By leo

Awww, poor baby, your moldy fantasy of a little naive babygirl has been shattered, and now you just don't know how to deal.
Church is a grown-up now, with all the choices, rights and self direction the rest of us have. I know, everyone should be as YOU choose, so your fragile world won't fall apart.
Get over it.

By william e rauh

,,,,and she started out as such a sweet girl......well eventually you sink to your true level.

Monday 13 December

By Scrapland

That's a foul mouth....in New York?...you've got to be f***ing kidding me.

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