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Back to: Archive · 2006 Graham Coxon at Audio, Brighton My review of Graham Coxon's gig at Audio, 10 Marine Parade, Brighton on the 16th of March 2006. Poor-quality photos also by me. I was lucky enough to get a ticket to see Graham Coxon launch his album with an intimate gig at Brighton's Audio club, on Marine Parade, on Thursday the 16th of March. The gig took place in a long and thin rectangular-shaped basement, with the tiny stage halfway along the left-hand long side (as seen on entering). It was so intimate that even those standing at the back were extremely close to the stage!  The band emerged from the small backstage area to thunderous applause and opened the set with a cracking rendition of Escape Song from 2002's The Kiss Of Morning album. This was followed by the furious energy of You Always Let Me Down which sounded like a bona fide '60s garage rock stomper even without its sexy organ line. They then played Don't Let Your Man Know before launching into the hard'n'heavy I Can't Look At Your Skin, which would easily have blown the roof off the venue if it hadn't been in a basement! Possible single You & I was next (with the crowd joining in on the lovely "la-la-la-la-la-la's"), followed by a short break while Stuffy indulged in some essential drum maintenance ("He's tightening up his nuts!" quipped Toby). Then it was time for instant fan favourite Just A State Of Mind. Members of the official messageboard were delighted to know this song was in the set list, and rightly so because it's a modern classic with absolutely heartbreaking lyrics. It was a joy and a pleasure to see as well as hear such a beautiful song performed live. This was followed by former hit single Bittersweet Bundle Of Misery, from Happiness In Magazines, which had everybody singing and dancing along.  Next up came another track from Happiness In Magazines - No Good Time - before Graham got his harmonica ready for the awesome What's He Got? Nice multi-tasking there by the boy Coxon! This was followed by current hit Standing On My Own Again and then the song that I most wanted to hear - Gimme Some Love! This absolutely rips the speakers apart on record and live it was no different. Eleven songs into the set (scheduled for 45 minutes, but it did run a little over!) and every one a winner so far! After Gimme Some Love was another fan favourite - I Don't Wanna Go Out, with its false ending that many people in the crowd didn't anticipate/know about! It was slightly cringeworthy to watch people applauding as the band prepared for the outro - which they extended into a beautiful and lengthy groove. Next was what Billboard would probably call Graham's "breakthrough hit" - Freakin' Out! The boys charmingly botched the intro, had a quick laugh, then carried on as if nothing unusual had happened. Nobody in the crowd was bothered anyway - they were too busy freakin' out to care!  After a short band huddle (except for Stuffy, who stayed seated at his kit), they played the Beatle-esque See A Better Day - the closing track from Love Travels At Illegal Speeds with the wonderful line "It's so lonely to love someone"... A real tear-jerker to watch, let alone listen to. This was followed by perennial live favourite I Wish - don't the band realise they could just play this for 50 minutes and people would still go home happy?!! A short burst of feedback, then into set closer People Of The Earth. Graham made a "subtle" change to the lyrics in response to Andy Gill's negative review of Love Travels At Illegal Speeds - "You still worship the Sun and the Daily Mail" became "You still worship the Sun and the f***ing Independent you f***ing w***er"! Classic! There was no malice in his tone of voice. It just suited the occasion and made everybody laugh!  So that was it - a gloriously loud and fantastic set of gloriously loud and fantastic rock'n'roll choons! Proper high volume and high energy entertainment for all! |