Supergrass // I should Coco 30th Anniversary Tour // Matt McManamon // Live Review // The Telegraph Building // Belfast
Here we are, some thirty years down the line from Supergrass’ debut album “I Should Coco”, celebrating the now infamous arrival of one of Brit Rock’s finest in the glorious 90’s.
Belfast have turned up to once again relive their youth and join Supergrass in one night of glorious music to take us all back to the heights of mayhem and the party scene that brought us more than a few hangovers to try and remember. I think I was just out of my student days and entering the working world, but trying my best to cling to those days of endless freedoms and avoiding adulting as long as I could. Alas, it caught up with as it does all of us, but looking around this room tonight, I am once again joined by like-minded kin who just want to go back to those better days, the room as we kick off is a little sparse as tonights support Liverpudlian-Irish singer-songwriter Matt McMannanon takes to the stage with his blend of angst ridden tunes. Matt is most known for his role as lead singer for The Dead 60s, McManamon has also played lead guitar for The Specials, and has toured and recorded with artists including The BibleCode Sundays, Supergrass, the Boo Radleys and Holly Johnson to name but a few.
He recorded and released his first solo album, ‘Scally Folk’ to critical acclaim on 28th May 2021 via independent London-based boutique record label ‘Fretsore Records’ and is clearly from the same wheelhouse of the likes of Supergrass with his etheral, easy on the ear but emotive songwriting style that has the Belfast crowd on their feet and enjoying every second of his set. A short but sweet set allows Matt’s songs to resonate with the Belfast crowd and whets the appetite for what is to come.
9 pm arrives and the lights once again drop as a roar erupts from The Telegraph Building as Supergrass take to the stage one by one, it is like a time machine has transported us back, as Gaz doesn’t seem to have changed a bit. The band signed to Parlophone Records in 1994 and produced I Should Coco (1995), the best-selling debut album for the label since the Beatles’ Please Please Me. Their first album’s fourth single, “Alright”, was the stand out track from the album and put Supergrass on the radar of millions across their native UK and alos garnered attention internationally and really the band never looked back, tonight is all about that debut album now 30 years young and still as sweet sounding as it ever did. The guys don’t waste any time getting stuck right in, playing the debut album in full track by track, and as we are tossed out of the pit after the third song, Gaz steps up to the microphone and introduces “Alright’ with a this was our fourth track kinda vibe going on. The room goes mad as they play their iconic single, and there is one guy in the front row who is living his best life, punching his fist in the air with every beat of the drum and thars of Gaz’s guitar. The band’s sound is iconic as ever, as important as ever, as Brit rock announced itself onto the world and captured the imagination of millions around the globe, influencing and inspiring so many wannabe musicians to follow in the footsteps of bands like Supergrass, Blur, Suede and of course Oasis. There was just such a vibe from the Brit rock scene back then, a sound all its own, and even today, people are still trying to encapsulate it in a more modern contemporary sound that harks back to the glory days.
Tonight may have mostly been about I Should Coco but they do treat us to some fan faves along the way too, as the night draws to an end we are treated to their classic ‘Pumping On Your Stereo’ and Belfast is set ablaze in a sea of glorious light and over-excited fans, a blast from the past for sure, a gathering of all who worshipped at the alter of Supergrass, of classic Brit rock and the energy it brings still in 2025 when you are in a packed room with friends. Does it get any better than this?
Onwards and upwards for Supergrass as they head off to Dublin’s Olympia Theatre before the festival season kicks in. Thank you, gents, for a fantastic evening and such an iconic album.
‘I SHOULD COCO’ ORIGINAL TRACKLIST:
- I’d Like to Know
- Caught By the Fuzz
- Mansize Rooster
- Alright
- Lose It
- Lenny
- Strange Ones
- Sitting Up Straight
- She’s so Loose
- We’re Not Supposed To
- Time
- Sofa (Of My Lethargy)
- Time To Go
Photography: Mark McGrogan
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