Jamie Walker speaks to the group helping people through music and concerts.

WE ALL love a small, intimate gig don’t we?

Especially when it’s a big band, who have no need to play an intimate gig when they could be playing big arenas across the country.

That is exactly what’s happening next week, right here in Brighton.

Alternative electro-rockers Enter Shikari will be bringing the mosh pit to the Concorde 2 on September 26.

At the same time Nineties pop stars All Saints will be blowing the roof off Komedia.

This is no coincidence at all, both gigs have been put on to delight the tiny crowds crammed into their respective venues, and both have been put on the same date entirely on purpose.

This has all been done by the people over at Nordoff Robbins, the largest independent music therapy charity in the UK.

Nordoff Robbins is an organisation that trains music therapists and then has them work with people who suffer with disabilities such as autism, mental health issues and physical disabilities too.

“We can give a better quality of life through the power of music,” says the company’s chief executive, Julie Whelan, left.

“Day in, day out, we help people who are struggling to have a better quality of life.”

The charity currently works with just under 9,000 people across the country, and only work with patients on a long-term basis.

Jules believes that it is the magic of music that allows them to support so many people.

She said: “It allows people, in different ways, to resonate with the improvisation of music.

“When we’re working with someone who may have dementia and Alzheimer’s it can help unlock forgotten memories and bring back some comfort.

“Often we use music therapy for those who can’t communicate or haven’t got language skills, because it can give them some form of identity.”

Nordoff Robbins is the company behind bringing Enter Shikari and All Saints to Brighton for these two super intimate shows.

The Get Loud campaign has been running for three years, and every year has seen them take big name bands and artists and put them into tiny venues, with all the money going towards the charity.

Jules said: “This year we’ve got 11 artists who are doing it voluntarily and curating the event themselves, and giving us the chance to raise awareness of something that’s not always in the mindset of loads of people.

“It’s very special and many of the artists have been to our London headquarters, we get international researchers in, and we’ve had many of them wanting to understand about our work.

“So that evening, when they do the shout out about Get Loud, they know what it’s all about.”

What’s more, all of the bands taking part in the Get Loud evening; which includes the likes of Katie Melua, The Darkness, Gilbert O’Sullivan and Nina Nesbitt, as well as the two Brighton shows, have all commissioned, arranged and organised their shows voluntarily.

Jules says that they charity is touched by how involved the bands want to get with the charity: “Many of these bands are already talking about how they can have an involvement with us and understand the importance and power that music can play as a tool.”

These shows aren’t just for random reasons either, every single show has been chosen intentionally by Nordoff Robbins.

The Brighton shows, Jules says, have been chosen because all the money raised from the shows here on the south coast will be put into allowing the charity to set up therapy sessions in and around the city.

“We decided last year that we wanted to do more in the Brighton area and move out of the Croydon area,” says Jules.

“We’ve now got our first music therapist who works in Brighton and West Sussex.

“The money raised will make a big difference, next year, where we’ll have three music therapists in the area.

“We hope it will be the start of developing some real action moving forward.”

As I said at the top of this piece, intimate shows are fantastic for the crowds.

But it’s even better when you can enjoy a rocking gig and also be helping a good cause.