In December, UK Christendom's favorite band IONA recorded three of their gigs for a double live album. Mike Rimmer watched them do it and spoke to the band members.

In the dressing room the band huddles around a heater. There's one fact I don't recognise. The newest member of Iona is bass player Phil Barker who is making his recording debut with this album. He has been in the band for 18 months as a deputy for Tim Harries who is also playing in Steeleye Span. Since Tim has been too busy doing other projects, Phil has been playing more regularly. I tease Dave Bainbridge that Iona have a bit of a Spinal Tap experience when it comes to bass players. "They don't actually explode but we do seem to go through them quite regularly," he laughs. "Actually I think the line up at the moment is probably fairly settled now."

It's now nearly show time and the audience begin to drift in, good naturedly complaining about the cold. They huddle in the darkest recesses of the club. Backstage I am given the job of concert MC and I discuss what the band need me to do. The concert begins with the unplugged folk tunes from Troy and Terl. While Nigel Palmer prepares to record the full band, I encourage the audience to venture nearer the stage and huddle together for warmth. I also explain that they're going to be on a live album. I am relieved when they make a lot of noise to welcome the band onto the stage.

The concert opens with a low key "Turning Tide" before snapping into a guaranteed crowd pleaser, "Treasure". It begins to feel as though the temperature in the hall is rising a little. What Iona lack in on-stage showmanship, they make up with gentle humour and sheer outstanding musical ability. Multi-instrumentalist Troy Donockley is ribbed for the amount of time it takes for him to swap instruments and change seats. Dave Bainbridge barely moves throughout the evening and only becomes animated when he lets loose on guitar.

Watching the band play live renditions of older material, I am struck by the sheer power surging from the stage as they tackle "Flight Of The Wild Goose" and their very first epic tune, "Trilogy". During the first set, there is one new tune, Iona's version of an old English folk song "I Will Give My Love An Apple". In Birmingham, the band are just coming to the end of a really strong rendition with Terl playing bodhran. Sadly, as he puts it down, he bangs it against a microphone stand making a huge booming sound. This distracts Troy who turns to see what the noise is and hits the wrong note. Immediately I know it's another version which will make the live album!

The Birmingham crowd cheer and clap every song with marked gusto. In the crowd I spot Chris Eaton who greets me with a hug. He sang backing vocals on Iona's last album and backstage during the interval he catches up with the band and tries to persuade Troy and Joanne to return the compliment and play on his forthcoming studio album. Logistics are discussed, Chris's musical ideas shared and jokes exchanged.

But time is short and the band are keen to get back on stage to continue playing. Beginning with a stunning version of "The Island", the band continues with a couple of songs from 'Journey Into The Morn' before performing "Iona". This is a high-spot with Joanne explaining how she wrote it while the band's atmospheric backing sets the mood before she breaks into the song. Another old favourite, "Columcille", is given a fresh rendition by the six-piece before the band play an astonishing version of "Heaven's Bright Sun". I will always remember the first time I saw them performing this live and my open mouthed response. Tonight's version is no less breathtaking as the whole band seems to take off!

Back to earth, "Chi Rho" is accompanied by a little jigging around and singing along from the crowd, an obvious favourite. Here the band begin the path to a climactic close with "Bi-Sel Mo Shul" swiftly leading to an anthemic "Kells Theme" with Terl's epic drumming giving the performance dynamic power.

With time running out, it doesn't take much to coax the band back to perform "No Heart Beats" which then breaks into an extraordinary medley of Irish reels. Pandemonium happens as the crowd leaps around and demonstrates their spontaneous dancing skills! Fun and mayhem ensue. The band are clearly enjoying the response and play faster, Joanne gives it a twirl too! Sadly, backstage the club's management are beginning to protest that the band are over time and the curfew should be in place. As the reels die out, it is yours truly who has to give the crowd the bad news that the band will not be returning for a second encore. The recording of "When I Survey" will have to wait until Shepton Mallet!

In the end, the band only have one opportunity to record "When I Survey" as Dave Bainbridge explains, "At the Leeds gig there was a technical problem with the electric guitar. At Birmingham we ran out of time. We knew it was one of the tunes that we definitely wanted on the album because it's been so powerful live. The only chance to get it right was on the last night so that was a bit nerve wracking. It all came together and we obviously had to trust God that it was going to work. The live version of that is probably one of the best versions we have ever done live. I was really please with it and it's over 14 minutes long!"

A week later, chatting with Joanne Hogg, I ask her to reflect on the recording of the album. "The ideal time to record a live album is towards the end of the tour when we've already done about five gigs. On the first night there was a bit of the old red light syndrome and a few nerves. The second night in Birmingham was freezing and we had problems with the tuning of the instruments. When we got to Shepton Mallet we knew it was our last chance to get it right. We prayed about this before the concert and I didn't feel conscious about the tape rolling."

I ask Joanne to tell me which of the gigs she enjoyed the most. Immediately she responds, "I think my least favourite was Birmingham because it was so cold but the audience was the warmest we had. I just felt such a warmth and encouragement from the people there despite the atmospheric conditions. At the other gigs I don't think people realised it was being recorded."

Joanne goes on to describe how it feels to perform on stage with Iona. "I go on stage with the guys and it's like being a family. I just like to be myself. There are artists who are wonderful performers who see the whole thing as art. They work very hard to perfect it and make it professional. I am a bit more laid back about it all. A few years ago I had more stage nerves than I do now. I don't feel like I'm a lead singer holding the whole thing up. There are many instruments in this band - mine just happens to be my voice."

After Christmas Dave Bainbridge travels up to Millennium Studios outside Edinburgh. Owned by former Marillion frontman, Fish, the studios are attached to the back of his house in the middle of the countryside. Callum Malcolm, who was also involved in the mixing of 'Journey Into The Morn', mixed the album. Dave describes him enthusiastically, "He's a real genius in the studio. He's worked with lots of Celts and Gaelic acts like Runrig and Wolfstone. He also does a lot of orchestral and classical things so he's got a broad knowledge of music."

Bainbridge and Malcolm spend a week putting the final touches to the album. "It was mixed incredibly quickly considering there were 18 tracks," Dave says. "We actually mixed it in four and a half days. We didn't mix the tracks in order because they were from different concerts so we spent one and a half days assembling them in the order we'd played them at the gigs."