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Back to: Archive · 2004 Coxon cool on a hot, steamy day From the Crawley News, 9 June 2004. Review by Lesley Dixon. Venue: Concorde 2, Brighton. Date: Sunday, 6 June. For the more discerning Blur fan, Graham Coxon was always head-and-shoulders above Damon Albarn in the cool stakes. But even those in the Coxon corner suspected he derived most of his pleasure from doing his utmost to upset Albarn's pop sensibilities by laying discordant guitar chords all over the frontman's best tunes. What a surprise then, after a series of patchy solo efforts, to find that Coxon's latest album, Happiness in Magazines, sounds more like Blur than Blur do these days. The likes of Bittersweet Bundle of Misery and Freakin' Out are the kind of tunes that Blur fans thought they would never hear again after Albarn took time out in Marrakesh to record last year's Think Tank and came back with one of his most uninspiring albums to date. So it was with a renewed sense of vigour and a batch of glowing reviews that Coxon arrived for his first solo gig in Brighton. The Concorde was sold out well in advance, and boy could you tell. On one of the hottest days of the year, the venue was sweltering, and for once the cliche was true - sweat was literally dripping off the walls. With Jarvis Cocker missing in action, there's a gap in the market for a geeky frontman, and from the crowd's reception as Coxon walked on stage it's clear he has filled it. Truly, never has so much goodwill been shown towards one person by Brighton's so-cynical indie audience - aside from the one punter who preceded the first three songs with heckles of "Play Parklife". As a frontman, Coxon makes a great guitarist. Now stone-cold sober, he still appears a little shy in front of an audience and - in contrast to Albarn's cartoonish stage manner - prefers to just stand there and play the songs. Luckily, with songs this good, he gets away with it. |