Live Review

The Coral – Uinversity Of Liverpool

• 16th Dec 2010

Considering that Noel Gallagher was in attendance at tonight’s gig, and with a host of Indie legends raving about them, you’d think The Coral would be more successful. However your average Joe assumes they’ve disappeared off the face of the earth, or broke up years ago to pursue a career at McDonald’s. In fact they’ve produced over eight albums in eight years, ‘Butterfly House’ being the first self-penned release following the departure of third guitarist Bill Ryder-Jones (who needs three guitarists anyway?!)

The night kicked off (well, I say “kicked off”) with someone I’d never seen before called Neville Skelly. He claims to be your run-of-the-mill estate boy next door, a Jazz crooner “Liverpool lad”, but I can’t remember a single song of his set. It all blurred into one acoustic non-entity. I felt awful as everyone talked through Skelly’s performance, not even bothering to applaud his exit. But let’s not speak of this travesty any longer – it’s time to move on and forget.

Cherry Ghost received a notably better response, and they deserved it. They’re a strange breed with a local following; their interesting approach to music is quite refreshing in comparison to he-who-must-not-be-named who took to the stage before them. Brooding front man, Simon Aldred, stared fixedly at the audience with real presence, which only momentarily faltered as he was heckled by his drunk mate who, in embarrassment, Aldred pretended wasn’t there. One thing worth a big mention is what cracking lyrics Cherry Ghost can produce.

As Cherry Ghost finished up I was shocked to see the venue suddenly flooded with The Coral’s loyal fan base. Nonchalant Mod girls and curly-haired pointy-shoed guys all squashed up to the barrier, totally dedicated to a band that appears to be rapidly sliding into obscurity. The Coral were visibly excited, as I noticed them peering expectantly through the round window of the backstage door. Who wouldn’t be with such a turn out? Even a young roadie of theirs had a big grin on his face whilst he did a final guitar check, looking at the audience like he wanted to be the Rock star. Noel Gallagher joined the boys from Hoylake as they set foot on stage, only to mysteriously slip away, unseen for the remainder of the show.

Surprisingly, The Coral started on slow number ‘More Than a Lover’, in fact the whole first half of their set was pretty downbeat. Things began to pick up from ‘1000 Years’ onwards, as the audience got merrier, bouncier and warmer after the icy cold outside. By this time even the balcony was swollen with people. It was also amusing to see bass player Paul Duffy swigging a cardboard cup of tea every now and again – now that’s what I call Rock ‘n’ Roll.

As always they played music laden with Doors inspired sixties/seventies riffs, and there was certainly a heavy vibe of that era in the way they dressed. Their songs often came across as two totally different numbers patchily stuck together like Frankenstein, going from an acoustic type jam to a crunchy riff wrapped in evil carnival-esque organ. ‘Pass It On’ was the first real stand-out sing-a-long hit The Coral performed, which proved popular with the crowd, and was followed by colourful kaleidoscope lighting for the gorgeous title track ‘Butterfly House’. Bizarrely bright light flooded the audience at random intervals, maybe to allow the band to inspect their fans? However I felt naked under the scrutiny, personally I’d stick to keeping the audience in the dark pit.

Regrettably, and mainly in the slower first half of the set, most numbers were too jam-like and failed to really go anywhere.

“It’s good to be home!” shouted front man James Skelly, which I found ironic considering they’re a bunch of Woolly Backs (like me, only I’m not afraid to admit it!) He did say a few other things during the show but I couldn’t make out the mumbles. Anyhow being in Liverpool prompted a cover of ‘Things We Said Today’ – not your usual choice, however it was an interesting take on an early Beatles track. ‘She’s Coming Around’ and ‘Wild Fire’ deserve a notable mention too.

Continuing to the encore a lot of people were taken out for drunken crowd-surfing, which is never a bad thing, The Coral and their fans seriously got into it. It baffles me that the whole set couldn’t have had the same level of energy as the final three songs did, instead of sluggishly building. Of course ‘Dreaming of You’, their flagship hit, was instantly recognisable by all and met with major kudos as the whole place yelled along to the lyrics. ‘North Parade’ finished it all off, a powerful stomping groove that never fails to make a perfect ending.

To be honest The Coral are a worthwhile band that have managed to hold out over the past decade. They’re not the best but they’re still pretty good, and I’m sure they’ll all continue to enjoy the UK tour circuit for a long time.