Blog Post
Lloyd Cole - Usher Hall, Edinburgh 14th October 2023
Richie Adams • Oct 16, 2023
Live Review
Like very few others, Lloyd Cole brings me back to my youth. My first car, first job and first flat were all accompanied by a Lloyd Cole and the Commotions soundtrack. I listen to certain songs and I am whisked back to memorable times and places. Particular lines take me to particular situations “she tries her luck with the traffic police” is one that always make me smile. Looking back too, this was the time of the heavy fringe with just the odd strand of hair hanging, enigmatically, over many, only just post teenage, foreheads. Black polo neck jumpers were tucked into stonewash baggy denim jeans and, if you were lucky enough to have limited eye sight, the whole combo was completed by a set of heavy rimmed glasses. Lloyd was the background for all this. He gave the self-styled intellectuals, along with those who wished they were, a set of songs with which to identify. Lost love, unrequited love and new love being the mainstays of a song book that spoke to kids of a certain age who shared a certain angst.
It's important to remember Lloyd Cole is about far more than those first three albums with the Commotions. His solo career, since 1989, has produced some fantastic songs. From his first solo album, 1990’s ‘the X album’ through to this year’s “On Pain”, Lloyd continues to make songs that connect with his fans, whom he has steadfastly managed to keep. Part of how he manages that is, I think, down to his accessibility. He is a busy twitter user; regular followers hear where he goes for a beer, why he puts what he does on the pub juke box and how his golf is going.
Tonight, in a busy Usher Hall, many of those followers, who were, no doubt, some of those same angst-ridden teenagers came together to hear those tunes again. I saw a few pairs of heavy rimmed glasses, I also spotted a few black polo necks. As you might imagine, however, the heavy fringes were slightly fewer in number. The expectation in the room was high.
At 8 o’clock a wholly white clad Lloyd wandered onto the sparse stage clutching his lines in an A4 book. He said nothing before reaching for his awaiting acoustic guitar and started picking through the opening notes of 1990’s “Don’t Look Back”. I knew the show was split into two parts and I was expecting the first half to be a fully solo turn, so it came as a bit of a pleasant surprise to see one of the original Commotions wander onto the stage as this song ended. Dressed in contrasting black, Neil Clark took up his position at the side of Lloyd and the pair launched into “Mr Malcontent’, a particular favourite of mine from the Mainstream album.
As that song finished, stage right produced an old and new face. The old face was Blair Cowan, the Commotions keyboard player; the new smile belonged to Signy Jakobsdottir who took her place behind the drum kit. Tonight was the first time I had seen her play. She did so much more than drum. Her percussion skills underpinned every song she was part of and helped to give feeling to each piece of music we heard. She was an excellent contribution to a great set of musicians.
Starting with 1995’s “Trigger Happy” this four piece took us through 11 more songs from across the songbook. Fantastic Commotions favourites, “2CV” and “Rattlesnakes” sat comfortably alongside solo picks including ‘On Pain” and one of my favourite Lloyd numbers from 2003’s ‘Music in a Foreign Language’, “My Other Life”. The first set ended an hour after it began with the closing track from the first album, “Are You Ready to be Heartbroken”. Before heading off, Lloyd promised to be “back soon to play a headline set”.
As the lights came up, it was interesting to hear the crowd chat. Someone behind me said she wanted to hear more chat and stories from Lloyd. Now, it's fair to say, he is a bit bereft in the crowd interaction department, but every one of the 13 songs we had heard to that point were all great stories. I was looking forward to more. I dived off for a quick beer and found myself standing behind Ian Rankin in the queue. He’s a man who know about good stories and he looked pretty happy with the night so far.
During the interval the background music played on. Lloyd Cole doesn’t leave this to the whim of the venue, rather he puts together the playlist that goes on before the show, the interval and the music to help us on our way out the venue. I simply raise it because I think it’s a nice touch.
After around 20 minutes the lights dimmed again and the band returned. “No Blue Skies”, “Night Sweats” and “Minor Character” start us off. So far there has not been a bass guitar in sight. The second half begins with Lloyd playing his four string; it certainly gave these songs a bit of full throat, which elevated them, in my view.
As the set went on it was great to watch Neil Clark. He is a man of angles. He spent most of the night in a half squat. With his knees sticking out whilst his elbows and shoulders pointed at various parts of the room, he looked like a man engrossed in the key role he had in this play. His dark rimmed glasses spent as much time on his forehead as they did on his nose, these were the times his eyes were closed whilst he was recreated a solos from albums of his youth.
Blair Cowan, on the other hand, sat at his keyboard exuding an air of self-control and command of the melody, much of which he had a good hand in writing over the years. It was a pleasure to listen to him across the night.
Lloyd made the point that this was not a reunion gig, he also said the band had only been together a month; both points brought a wry smile to many of us sitting in the room. That was the only issue I had in the night – sitting. This is a grand concert theatre with very comfy seats but despite the passing years, nagging hips and a sore back, I’d rather have been on my feet for the gig. Add to that the Edinburgh reserve and it meant a night being down sat. I often wonder how performers feel about such things.
The second half included another hefty mix of the old and new. Inevitably, it was the Commotions numbers of “Perfect Skin” and “Perfect Blue” that brought the loudest cheers, “Mister Wrong” and “The Idiot” were outstanding contributions too. We knew the night was drawing to a close when “Brand New Friend” kicked in. One of the songs that most clearly defined the band was “Forrest Fire”. It's always great to hear this live and tonight it brought the show to wonderful crescendo.
The band returned for a couple of encore numbers “The Young Idealists” and “Mainstream” and then that Lloyd-curated background music came on to send us on our way.
Tonight was a very good night indeed. Lloyd let us know that he was so old he remembered when Deuchars IPA was the best beer in Scotland. Once we left we darted into the pub for a night cap. Deuchars was on tap so it was a couple of those for us. I was with my son and spent the time over a final beer explaining to him all about heavy fringes and tucked in jumpers. He looked none too impressed with the fashion, but he reckoned the music on show tonight was top drawer. We both enjoyed the Deuchars, I’m old enough to remember when Lloyd Cole and the Commotions were just starting out. My son is now young enough to remember hearing them for the first time and enjoying them. He’s off to university soon. I hope he discovers a band who have the same type of impact for his generation. If that doesn’t happen, I am going to sort him out with a black polo neck, just in case he needs it.