The Coral
Warrington Parr Hall
16/12/03
The Dead Sixties with their wacky ska
mixed with psychedelic rock sound, that has them pitched
somewhere between Madness and The Coral themselves, were
worthy openers who played with humility and unpredictability.
When the main act arrived on stage to a rapturous reception,
talented front man James Skelly declared that he wasn’t
well, but would do his best (they had to cancel a few Irish
gigs because he lost his voice). Most of the crowd forgot
about this three minutes later after they had heard the
impressive rat race decrying ‘Bill McCai’,
which is their second album’s equivalent to ‘Simon
Diamond’ on their self titled debut album, which
was omitted from the set list tonight. There has not been
a song like tonight’s opener since ‘Smithers
Jones’ by The Jam. Skelly clad in his now trademark
Texas style hat, sang it perfectly and with passion and
believe that saw a few members of the audience’s
eyes start to fill up.
