Ocean Colour Scene

At the height of the Britpop explosion, Ocean Colour Scene were going blow for blow with the likes of Blur and Oasis. Over the course of the nineties, three top five albums, a string of top-ten singles and sold-out arena tours solidified their status as one of the major success stories of the era, though they never quite managed to garner the kind of global critical acclaim that was showered upon their contemporaries.

With the dawning of the 21st century, the band Noel Gallagher once jokingly referred to as “the second best band in Britain” seemed to drift off the radar, with faint hopes of regaining the chart-topping success of 'Mosely Shoals' or 'Marchin’ Already'. And yet, tonight’s show attests to their longevity. While their glory days may be over, the Birmingham outfit are not forgotten, as the packed-out Picture House, crammed with ageing Britpop aficionados on a cold February evening, illustrates. 

Responding to the air of nostalgia, the band swagger onto the stage like it’s 1997; were it not for guitarist Steve Cradock’s rapidly receding hairline you’d almost believe you had stumbled into a timewarp. Oldies ‘Policemen & Pirates’ and ‘Fleeting Mind’ are torn into with aplomb for an elated crowd. Yet by contrast, newer songs like ‘Mrs Maylie’ and latest single ‘Magic Carpet Days’ are greeted with utter indifference. This theme continues throughout - old songs are greeted with jubilation, while the new stuff falls on deaf ears.

The band power on regardless, punctuating their set only occasionally with newer material in a certain but unstated acknowledgement that they themselves realise they are past their best. As they churn out instantly recognisable belters like ‘Hundred Mile High City’, ‘Riverboat Song’ and ‘The Day We Caught The Train’, even if only for a few brief moments, there are still flashes of a band that came close to conquering the world.