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To promote their forthcoming Singles
compilation, The Coral decide to play a one-off acoustic show in London. Such
an occasion surely warrants a venue out of the ordinary so instead of Hammersmith Apollo or Brixton Academy, we get to see
the band at the London Coliseum, an intricately decorated West End theatre more used to accommodating polite clientele for
the opera and theatre. Intricate is also a suitable adjective to describe The
Coral’s acoustic music and polite personifies their onstage demeanour. Maybe
a little too polite at times…
The shy, newly-reduce five-piece spoke very little to the audience but rattled
off an incredible 21 songs in barely an hour. No extended versions then but there’s
little to complain about when the singing and playing are this good.
Although drums and keyboards were used, thee was virtually
no electric guitar in a set-list not surprisingly biased towards the acoustic and poppy end of the band’s repertoire
rather than their more manic psychedelic side. Having said this though, we did get excellent, less-electric versions of the
normally psychedelic Who’s Gonna Find Me and Don’t Think You’re The First, the latter featuring some brilliant
work by the new main guitarist Lee Southall.
Bill Ryder-Jones, the Coral’s
talented but sadly troubled guitarist, has left the band for the second and presumably final time leaving Southall as the
undisputed main six-string player with lead singer James Skelly filling in far more than before on rhythm guitar. Skelly managed this additional responsibility admirably often picking a complex second guitar part whilst
singing excellently. Also excellent and far more apparent in an acoustic setting
were the harmonies provided on occasions by all four musicians in support of James’ lead vocals.
Of the more
acoustic and poppy songs included, the highlights for me included Jacqueline, Dreaming Of You, Liezah and Pass It On, the
last song one of two performed with special guest Ian Broudie who produced the band’s first three albums . Special guests were strongly rumoured in the run-up to this one-off show and though
I was hoping that a certain Mr N Gallagher would make an appearance, the former Lightning Seed Broudie was perfectly fine
as were support act Noah & The Whale. As young looking as The Coral when
they were first signed, NATW used an unusual array of instruments to create an idiosyncratic sound somewhat like a foklier
Velvet Underground circa their third album. Add to this a vocalist sounding like
Lloyd Cole and you have a bizarre but infectious mix and definitely a name to look out for…
Unusually for a support
act, many in the audience wanted more from Noah & The Whale after their set. The
Coral of course did get encores though finished them all too briefly. The final
song though, an excellent cover of the Everly Brothers’ Bye Bye Love validated their late 50s and early 60s pop and
Merseybeat influences as well as maybe showing musically where the band stand now. Maybe a more acoustic sound is the
way forward as the band look for arrangements to suit their sound as a newly-reduved five-piece – though
maybe not, there will no doubt be some further twists and turns in the path ahead. Whatever
happens, the playing will no doubt still be intricate and the band’s live interaction with the audience still a little
polite. This isn’t a big problem though when the performances are
this good and we look forward to seeing what this excellent band come up with next.
Set list
'Spanish Main'
'Who's Gonna Find Me'
'Jacqueline'
'Simon Diamond'
'Shadows Fall'
'Goodbye'
'Pass It On'
'Liezah'
'Green Is The Colour'
'In The Morning'
'Bill McCai'
'Fireflies'
'Being Somebody Else'
'Don't Think You're The First'
'Put The Sun Back'
'Rovin In The Jewel'
'Everybody's Talkin''
'Dreaming Of You'
'Careless Hands'
'Calendars And Clocks'
'Bye Bye Love'
20.8.08
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