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
|
