Ocean Colour Scene live at Portsmouth Guildhall (3.4.2025) with special guests Kula Shaker.
My previous OCS experiences are summarised here in my blog of a December 2023 gig in Bournemouth. This is my eleventh OCS gig – just three or so for Kula Shaker but there was The Jeevas that I saw with Crispian Mills fronting that as well. And there’s more notes here on the Portsmouth Guildhall here.
We had balcony seats for this one but watched half of the Kula Shaker set stood downstairs with friends Steve and Dawn.
I bought some new ear plugs – looked like others I’d had and much cheaper. Maybe it’s about the shape of your ears but they were crap and after a bit of fiddling I retreated upstairs. I have since bought a different brand – EarPeace which I have had before and I think are excellent (about £30). My ears take a hammering so I need to be kind to them.
Crispian Mills is 52 now and he appears to have the body of 30 year old. I’ll have some of what he’s on please. Kula Shaker’s psychedelic rock is complemented this evening by some amazing lighting being used as the backdrop.
Mills guitar playing is frantic – he’s down on his knees playing (and no one has to help him up). Impressive. I realise I don’t know their stuff very well. Of course I recognise Govinda with its Indian sounds and chants. I record that one – link to my YouTube channel.
I’m not going to dwell too much on this one. I really enjoyed the gig but nothing new to add really.
Ocean Colour Scene take on a much more relaxed approach than Mills and Kula Shaker. Frontman Simon Fowler is 59 and stays put centre stage – he looks more like I would have to behave on stage, which is comforting in some ways – and the band stick to their positions, with just a limited amount of Steve Cradock wandering.
First song is The Circle with images of scooter boys across the backdrop, presumably in Birmingham and maybe around the circular 11C bus route that the song is about, yeah? It cuts through Moseley – where some of the band are from, and just after I left that area earlier in the 80s.
The setlist is a beauty, with seven tracks from Moseley Shoals and five from One From The Modern. Profit in Peace gave a massive lift to the mid-set. So now. So always. Everyone was singing along like it was a hippy 60s gathering – war imagery across the backdrop, seemingly always the backdrop. What do we do? Rock on. Rock until we drop or someone drops us. It’s a beautiful song and up there with the best one song live moments of recent years.
I grab a video of another One From The Modern – So Low. (Here on my YouTube channel.)
The subtlety of Fowler’s vocals on Emily Chambers is… just Beatlesque. Better Day – is there a better OCS song? Get Blown Away. The songs keep coming. This is why I have so much OCS material. I love it all – Bsides, live recordings. Just play the songs and I’m happy.
You think they’ve run out and the end must be nigh.. but wait, Travellers’ Tune. One more then all focus on Fowler for Robin Hood, a popular encore pick. To finish it’s The Day We Caught the Train, the day Jimmy caught the train:
“You and I should ride the coast
And wind up in our favourite coats just miles away
Roll a number, write another song like
Jimmy heard the day he caught the train”
I love it. That’s all they have to do – play the songs. That’s what they do – just play the songs. See you again soon Moseley boys.
Gigs with Ivan 