OCEAN Colour Scene's big out in Dublin quite the blowout we had been hoping for - oh, it was solid enough all right, with all the riffs and influences in all the right places, but it certainly wasn't the day we caught the buzz. Being solid, however, is what has helped OCS sell a million copies of Moseley Shoals, so we got what we wanted four blokes playing us r & b for a new Noel Gallagher generation. Straight, unpretentious, high on oldfashioned musical values and low on the charisma stakes. Sorted.
Lead singer Simon Fowler, the antithesis of the rock n roll frontman, and if you wanted flailing arms and flying wrists then you had to look towards guitarist Steve Cradock, whose onstage movements matched the wanton wanderings of his guitar playing. Cradock pulled every move in the rockbook, effortlessly colouring the songs with a wide palette of riffs, licks and fills. All Fowler had to do was add the vocal veneer to Cradock's mad swirls and shapes, and he did that with aplomb. Bassist Damon Minchella kept a cigarette firmly jammed in the headstock of his bass, gleefully strolling his fingers along the classic r & b runs, while drummer Oscar Harrison was, well, rock steady.
The Scene may come on like faded colours from the past, but some of their songs are explosions of blues and bright greens, and when they lash into the familiar riff from The Riverboat Song you can almost see the flares of orange sunlight - or maybe that's just the ginger reflection of Chris Evans introducing yet another guest on TFL Friday.
Cradock takes the lead vocal for a Ronnie Lane song, soon to be released as part of a tribute single featuring Paul Weller and Noel Gallagher, and 40 Past Midnight pays tribute to he Stones' Let's Spend The Night Together. Somehow, The Circle seems to chase its own tail, but The Day We Caught The Train swept the crowd up and hurtled them along the tracks of time.
Fowler began the encore with a lone rendition of Robin Hood, from the forthcoming filler album, B Sides, Seasides and Free Rides, and he was helped halfway through by Cradock on piano. Minchella and Harrison rejoined their compatriots for a poignant, Weller-esque I Wanna Stay Alive With You, then the merry men from the crew roped in with a raucous rendition of Day Tripper, bringing a somewhat pedestrian ending to this Dadrock holiday.
