The scouse five piece were welcomed into Manchester with open arms at the Albert Hall on Saturday night. The Albert Hall is one of Manchester’s favourite music venues and The Coral certainly lived up to the reputation of this great concert hall.
Photography by Jack Kirwin
After a five year break the sold out venue is clearly an indication that the band have been missed. As an integral part of a revival in indie-pop some 10 years earlier and with no new music for some time this was always going to be the case.
With a tweak to the line-up since the band were last seen, the former Zutons guitarist Paul Molley replacing founder member Lee Southall adding some fantastic guitar skills to tonights set.
Photography by Jack Kirwin
The Coral kicked off this fantastic evening with a selection of new material from their recently released album ‘Distance Inbetween’ and certainly had the crowd buzzing with songs like ‘Connector’ and ‘Chasing the tail of a dream’ which will surely be added to their already impressive back catalogue of psych-folk hits. A more heavy sound than your average fan will be used too but nether the less impressive.
It was clear to see however that the majority of the crowd in tonight are fans from their early years and on a Saturday night out they are here to hear the hits and as the first chords of 2002’s ‘Simon Diamond’ are played you can feel the connection between band and fan strike, with everybody now singing from the same hymn sheet, a feeling of reminiscence enters the room as if to say ‘that’s why we’re here’.
Photography by Jack Kirwin
The band then went on to treating the crowd to more of their classics such as ‘Don’t Think You’re the First’ and ‘In the Morning’, with the crowd now singing every word back at the band. Lead singer James Skelly taking it all in his stride with his somewhat busker style of performing.
The impressive lighting effects throughout the gig certainly added to the drama of the show. A 60’s psychedelic theme working perfectly together with their folk sound from yesteryear.
More hits followed from the Liverpudlians, with them saving fans favourites ‘Goodbye’ and ‘Dreaming of You’ until the encore which were greeted with a joyous response from the crowd. A memorable evening was topped off with their new song ‘Fear Machine’ which provided the perfect finale. All in all a great gig from a Liverpool favourite.
