Double delight tonight in Cambridge. Ocean Colour Scene headline on their current mainly sold out UK tour during a real purple period for the Brummie legends, AND the wonderful Kula Shaker on the same bill. What more can you want?
Well, all the hits from both bands please….which is exactly what we got…and to hear both bands sound as good as they do on record and as they did back in the day. Yep, that was the skinny here tonight. Bloody marvellous gig.
If you were in a sing-a-long mood, this was just the ticket (see what I did there?). The Grade Two listed 1876-built gothic revival style venue is lovely, and has a great atmosphere and look to it. Rammed to the rafters with its 1400 capacity reached.
In fact most of this tour is sold out, and the band had to add a slew of 10 shows from the original schedule of 19 dates, to make it this bumper 29-gig affair, due to demand for tickets. Cambridge is 12th date of the tour, which kicked off in Leeds at the end of March and closes in Newcastle on 4th May.
Ocean Colour Scene setlist [Cambridge]
The Circle
I Just Need Myself
You’ve Got It Bad
One for the Road
Families
Fleeting Minds
July
Go to Sea
So Low
Profit in Peace
Hundred Mile High City
Mrs. Jones
Emily Chambers
She’s Been Writing
The Riverboat Song
Better Day
Drive Away
Get Blown Away
Travellers Tune
Get Away
Encore:
Robin Hood
The Day We Caught the Train
Ocean Colour Scene are enjoying a major renaissance right now and have been playing some blinding shows and festivals in recent times, attracting audiences made up of school age kids, to grandparents who were into OCS the first time round.
Frontman Simon Fowler, guitarist Steve Cradock and drummer Oscar Harrison really are firing on all cylinders after a career which started back in 1989 back in Birmingham.
OCS had three Top five albums; 1996’s classic and timeless “Moseley Shoals”, 1997’s “Marchin’ Already” and 1999’s “One From The Modern”. They achieved 17 Top 40 singles, including nine successive Top 20 singles.
Steve Cradock is unquestionably one of the most respected, creative and influential guitarists in the UK – he also plays with Paul Weller and has co-written with Paul for many years.
Steve is also a celebrated producer and has worked with PP Arnold – who he also plays guitar with – among others. His son Cass is with OCS on this tour on keyboards, and Oscar’s son Leon is on percussion.
Fans lapped up the faultless 23-song set tonight, which of course included all the hits from their celebrated career, including “The Riverboat Song”, “The Circle”, “Traveller’s Tune”, “Hundred Mile High City” and the last song of the encore, the brilliant “The Day We Caught The Train.”
The band didn’t say much in between songs tonight with a long set to get through and no one minded, as the music sounded so frigging cool.
Before the headliners came on stage to the sound of the Booker T & The MG’s “Green Onions” track, Kula Shaker filled the stage with joss sticks and the scent wafted into the crowd, to go with the psychedelic backdrop projected onto the back of stage like we were at some hippy style “happening” in the swinging 60s. Groovy man!
Kula Shaker setlist [Cambridge]
303
Grateful When You’re Dead
Jerry Was There
In a Broken Dream / Into the Deep
(Python Lee Jackson cover)
Broke as Folk
Shower Your Love
Charge of the Light Brigade
Tattva
Hey Dude
Hush
(Joe South cover)
Govinda
Kula Shaker’s singer and guitarist Crispian Mills is of course part of the Mills acting dynasty, with his mum being Hayley Mills – I adore the film “Whistle Down The Wind” and her amazing performance as a child star back in 1961 – and his late grandfather being Sir John Mills. There is also actress Juliet Mills, and probably more of ’em I have forgotten.
Kula Shaker delivered a strong 12-song set, with six songs from their 13-track hit debut album “K” from 1996, selling circa 106,000 copies in the first week of release and making # 1 in the UK album chart.
The hits on that album were a triumph tonight; “Tattva”, “Hey Dude” and “Govinda”. Their cover of Joe South’s “Hush” from 1997 is not on that debut album, but was a hit single for Kula Shaker and it sounded great tonight too.
The band has released a further six studio albums since “K”, including the UK Top 10 album “Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts” and their current album “Natural Magick”, which was released in February 2024.
Nice to hear another cover tonight, of Python Lee Jackson’s “In A Broken Dream”, the original of which featured Rod Stewart on lead vocals. A new song for 2025, “Charge Of The Light Brigade” is a good track, which Crispian explained was about being in an abusive relationship.
Back to the headline set, OCS closed the show with a two-song encore, first the band leaving the stage minus Simon, armed with acoustic guitar he gave a lovely stripped-down rendition of “Robin Hood”, with a snippet of the Oasis song “Live Forever” in the outro.
The rest of the boys trouped back on for a rousing final song, “The Day We Caught The Train.” And then they were gone….But definitely not forgotten.
- Good news: Simon Fowler and drummer Oscar Harrison are back on the road as a duo in the autumn, for a 14-date acoustic tour – starting on 2nd October in Frome and ending the tour in Bexhill on October 25th.
Photos by Liam Battersby
Words by Andy Faith
