Venue:
Thekla, Bristol
Date: 16/10/2016
Well if you were a certain age in the mid 80’s (say mid 20’s?) and a certain disposition (say moody romantic with slightly pretentious reading tastes)then Lloyd Cole (& the Commotions) may have hit you head-on. Twangy guitars, clever lyrics, moody looks – take me I’m yours. In pre-internet days a reference to Arthur Lee or Renate Adler took some following up. Well worth it. Well he’s back again. this time with son William. He may look a bit grumpy in photos but in person LC is funny and self depreciating and very polite. The Classic Songbook 1983-1996 will do me just fine ..bit of Prince & Bowie thrown in…It was a hot night but if you loved Rattlesnakes you would love this.
The audience:
Hot, appreciative. No big Jeff?
It made me think..
I want a diamante crocodile. Another box set next year – put me down for one. OK @ Tiggerlion?
Same here, saw him in Liverpool last Tuesday, a splendid time was had by all.
“2cv” was just beautiful man.
Sounds great, @anton. Any photos of that ‘hot’ audience?
Stop that at once!
🙁
I’m suing him. I leant on the bookcase but I never got straight.
(I love LC, if only for his Twitter feed. Not a man who takes himself at all seriously it appears.)
I saw him at the Old Market, Hove, the following evening [last night]. Having his son back him during the second half of the set was a lovely touch. When the young man joined him on stage after the interval, Lloyd quipped: “Can you imagine how long it took for me to find someone who looked like I did thirty years ago?” A couple of songs later, he introduced him: “Oh, this is William Cole, by the way.”
These were lovely guitar-only versions from the Classic Songbook 1983-96. Highlights included “So You’d Like To Change The World”, “Pretty Gone”, “Jennifer She Said”, “Perfect Skin”, “Are You Ready To Be Heartbroken”, “Forest Fire” and [I agree] “2CV”. Between numbers, the banter included a claim that he’d been approached by several writers wanting to collaborate with him on his memoirs, but he would have to kill at least eleven people before that could happen.
A rewarding show for those who were there back in his heyday [I saw him at Brixton Academy in 1986] and could now, after three decades, see Cole for what he is – not a rock’n’roll star, indeed far from it, but a capable guitarist, an engaging solo performer with a wry sense of humour and a classy songwriter who has produced at least a handful of enduring pop gems.
Last night in Melbourne he said he had finally found someone on guitar who looked like him 30 years ago had he been in Echo and the Bunnymen! I thought young William looked a lot like Roddy Frame.
A fantastic night btw. LC was in fine voice and very funny and self-deprecating.
Ah, he used the same line on Sunday….but as long as he’s playing the same songs who’s complaining? Plus he introduced me to Speedboat, and more recently the Walkmen.
“I love the laconic. Clearly, I am not of their number.” R Adler