Graham Coxon

Graham Coxon - Live Review

Graham Coxon

Forum

27/11/04

Blur. There you go, I’ve said it but won’t again. And with some justification too. Knowing Graham Coxon of old is knowing the classroom geek - the shy but breathtaking technical wizard who dazzled with kaleidoscopic noise, albeit mixed in with some good old fashioned riffing. But watching Coxon back then was watching the introvert. Enter The Jock. The captain leading his team from the front (OK, not the perfect analogy, but bar the occasional pregnant pause,

Graham Coxon - Live Review

there’s barely a hint of a man preferring stage right to centre these days). As a result, Coxon’s maybe not as flashy with the fretboard, but plays hard (very hard in fact) and, dare I say it, struts around a little to boot. Oh, and has heaps of fun in the process - so much so that he might well have even turned into a bit of a nutter. Perhaps it was the white socks, but Elvis Costello meets Bruce Foxton in an early 1980s bizzarely-contort-yourself-around-your-guitar-whilst-mid-air-athon is what sprung to mind this night.

It was only fitting that a packed Forum did its best to follow suit, ‘People Of The Earth’ setting the tone for a night of old-school pogo-ing bliss. Coxon evidently loves the Forum - the feeling mutual, with every soul in sight lapping up the 24 song set of 3 minute post-punk pop songs played at some lick. Heavily into the night, the crowd went even further when Pete Doherty appeared from nowhere for a nearly audience-drowned-out ‘Time For Heroes’. Nearing the climax, ‘That’s When I Reach For My Revolver’ and an encored ‘Freakin’ Out’ stamped home the night’s main vibe. Yes, there were subtleties (boy, ‘All Over Me’ is a moment) and reminders of the immense playing and song-writing ability behind the specs (‘Bittersweet Bundle Of Misery’ anyone?), but this is Graham Coxon as Graham Coxon and it is fun, fun, fun.

http://www.grahamcoxon.co.uk

Richard Beeching

Contactmusic