Photo Credit: Georgia Cottrill
Returning to Sheffield for yet another sold out performance, OCEAN COLOUR SCENE brought their career spanning set to the iconic City Hall, playing all the hits and some rarities along the way.
As special guests on this run, the psychedelic foursome KULA SHAKER brought a plethora of captivating visuals, mind-blowing riffs, and a dynamic performance to the evening. The band was going all out with their set, starting off with ‘303‘, from their chart topping debut record. The band was warmly received by the already-full auditorium, and their upcoming single ‘Charge of the Light Brigade‘ gave fans a sneak peek at what they have in the works. KULA SHAKER‘s powerful performance continued with ‘Tattva‘ and ‘Hey Dude‘, which kept the energy flowing throughout the room. Their beloved rendition of ‘Hush‘ had everyone getting up from their seats to join in, before concluding their return to Sheffield with ‘Govinda‘ to bow out to a thunderous cheer that filled the venue.
The room erupted the moment OCEAN COLOUR SCENE began to appear from the wings, as each member stepped out individually, the room was filled with cheers from the seats to the balcony. Opening with ‘The Circle‘, the cheers continued as the first note was played, with further clear favourites ‘I Just Need Myself‘ and ‘You’ve Got It Bad‘ then followed to maintain the excitement throughout.
Guitarist Steve Cradock continues to display his experience with whaling guitar solos and strutting around the stage, whilst Simon Fowler remains calm and collected as he switches between acoustic guitar and standalone vocal duties depending on the song. People remained in the seats for the majority of the performance, but still sang every word as loud as they possibly could for laid back ‘Mrs. Jones‘ and ‘Emily Chambers‘ before unleashing ‘The Riverboat Song‘ to get everybody up on their feet and join in to arguably the bands biggest hit.
As ‘Better Day‘ and ‘Drive Away‘ slowed things down a bit once again, the intro of ‘Get Blown Away‘ had everyone in awe once again as Cradock tore into his pedals for a mind boggling display of sounds, with the exquisite vocals from Fowler came flowing through. The outro of ‘Get Away‘ mirrored the ferocity of Cradock’s guitar playing once again, before the band exited the stage. As an encore was looming, the room erupted in applauses and cheering before OCS made their return to the podium for two final songs.
Kicking off the encore with the serene ‘Robin Hood’ to ease the capacity crowd into the grand finale, a portion of Oasis’ ‘Live Forever‘ featured in the last stage of the song. OCS launched in to fan favourite ‘The Day We Caught the Train‘ as everyone leaped up out of their seats once more, showing their passion for the final time on the night. Over 30 years later, the love for OCEAN COLOUR SCENE remains very much alive across the UK.
Taped Magazine 