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Review: Supergrass, Lloyds Amphitheatre – ‘They can throw a party like no one else can’
Supergrass’ gig at the Lloyds Amphitheatre was essentially one massive, raucous party, a celebration of their debut album I Should Coco turning 30.
And it was perhaps one of the wildest 30th birthday parties to have ever been thrown.
Sports Team took the stage like a drunken uncle takes to a tabletop.
Tipsy from the heat and draped in baggy suits, they crashed through spiky, indie rock anthems.
The Drop brought back the sticky dance pits created by The Fall, and the jaggedness of Blur’s early tunes, and squished them into a frontman who looks on the verge of exploding.
The setting did nothing to dull the theatrics of Alex Rice, backlit by a glittering harbour and platforming on a stage that engulfed the entire skyline.
Hot air balloons accompanied the woozy guitar riffs of I’m In Love (Subaru) and you had to wonder whether this was an extravagant party trick; something akin to snake charmers summoning snakes.
Supergrass’ set, despite threatening to fall apart for 45 minutes, was clearly well rehearsed; like a speech given by an old friend, written over years of devotion.
Nothing highlighted this quite as well as Maybe When We’re 30 a slower, softer, rawer tune, draped in melodic guitar.
The jangly keyboard gave it a slight nervousness, and yet it never hesitated, ending in a riotous crescendo that gave Supergrass the perfect entrance tune.
The crowd that awaited Supergrass’ arrival was a group of their oldest friends.
There was the 30-year-old couple whose childhood was defined by 90s alt rock.
Then the 50-year-old woman whose dorm room was decorated with band posters.
And a teenager in hooped earrings and leopard print who knew the old stories through their parents’ nostalgic storytelling.
It was an odd collection of established faces, possible Facebook mutuals and random people’s kids, but aren’t all the best 30th birthday parties like this?
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Gaz Coombes sauntered on, knowing he barely had to sing the words; from the outset the crowd almost drowned them out, an impressive feat considering the power coming from the stage.
All of I Should Coco is played for the first half of the set, starting with I’d Like to Know, Caught by the Fuzz and Mansize Rooster.
“Quite a mad three opening songs,” Coombes admitted as he stopped pinging around the stage for just long enough to have a sip of water.
After that brief break, the band threw themselves into Alright, an anthem of joy and exaltation and an excuse, if there hadn’t been one before, to go completely insane. It was as if the first person had taken to the dance floor, giving the whole place permission to let loose.
It was silly and infectious, a fuzz of guitars swaying behind a bouncing keyboard; a perfect summer-y pop song.
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The momentum only built from here. The band revelled in the wall of rock chords that Lose It gave them, and the giddy whirl of Strange Ones, before letting the dizzy psychedelia of Sofa (Of My Lethargy) draw their album to a close. They ended, of course, on the outro Time to Go.
Coombes prompted people to sing along “if they know the words”, although this seemed a little tongue in cheek – there wasn’t been one word that hadn’t been sung back at them for the entire set.
The end of the album marked the halfway point in their set, or perhaps a snack break as it was becoming increasingly clear that this was a party, not a gig.
This half was opened with Richard III, a ridiculously fun rock ‘n’ roll tune.
The band were past trying to perform at this point, and just leant into the stupid rock star personas that the audience had been encouraging them into; letting go of a need to control volume, or reserve energy and just giving in to the utter chaos.
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No-one rested for the next 40 minutes.
There seemed to be a total disregard for the state in which partygoers would go into work tomorrow, or the (self-admitted) hung over state of the band, as Supergrass played hit after hit. The drums thumped. The guitar punched. The lyrics thundered.
Moving followed Mary which followed Late in the Day, the band bowing after each one, aware that they are absolute superstars.
Every song seemed to be ‘the song’, the one that elicits screams of joy and hand waving and “oh my God this one’s my favourite”.
The band knew what they were doing, and they were brilliant at it.
The night ended with Pumping on Your Stereo: glamorous, heavy and glitter-y… a proper finale. This gig was not a 30th anniversary tour, but a reminder that Supergrass can throw a party like no one else can.
Happy Birthday Should I Coco, you are brilliant.
Main photo: Esme Morgan-Jones
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