LLOYD COLE – DE LA WARR PAVILION, BEXHILL-ON-SEA 8.9.24
When I agreed to attend the wonderful piece of modernist architecture that is the De La Warr Pavilion on this Sunday night, I had forgotten that Scotland were due to be pulverising Portugal in the Nations League and I was disappointed to be missing watching the game on the box, but that’s what the record button is for and in any case you really can’t beat live music.
Tonight’s treat is a trip way back in time as I find myself watching Lloyd Cole on his return to Bexhill, he’s played at this venue three times in the past six years. After three dates in Ireland, Lloyd has returned to mainland Britain and this is opening night of this leg of the tour. The De La Warr Pavilion is currently preparing to undergo a refurbishment programme with £17m from the Levelling Up programme which they are match funding and as a result the stalls area has temporary seating in place which I actually like as it gives me a great view from Row Q being that it is raised.
Lloyd Cole rose to prominence back in the mid-eighties with The Commotions and had five top 40 singles, and three top 20 long playing records all selling in excess of 100,000 copies each and therefore reaching Gold Album status. No mean feat back in the day when vinyl was king and chart competition was rife. I recall going to a sweltering Glastonbury in 1986 and getting a lift from a friend based on his love for Level 42, there’s no accounting for others taste in music, and Lloyd Cole and the Commotions, to see them play the penultimate set of Saturday night on the Pyramid Stage just prior to headliners The Cure. Even though there was only four stages, it was the first year they had a classical music stage, back in those pre-commercialised Glastonbury days when it had true meaning as it was a CND (Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament) Festival and not what it has turned into now, I still managed to find a clash on the Saturday night with Half Man Half Biscuit playing on Stage Two and running over so I in fact only actually ever caught half of a Lloyd Cole and the Commotions set.
On looking back over his music career I am somewhat surprised to find that Lloyd has only ever had two Top 20 singles in the UK, with ‘Lost Weekend’ reaching No.17 and ‘Brand New Friend’ peaking at No.19. This just goes to show the strength of the Top 40 back in the eighties for a band that got to play the main Glastonbury stage. To be honest I kind of lost touch with Lloyd after the band split in 1989 and only briefly caught some of his solo material, so tonight is to be a gig where I delve back into my early twenties, those were the days, whilst finally discovering more of his back catalogue now that I’ve turned sixty.
Lloyd enters the stage alone at 8pm sporting a casual looking white suit for the first half of the night’s entertainment. There is no support act though Lloyd points out towards the end of his first 45 minute long set that he is in fact his own support act and that there will be more after an intermission. I am more used to attending gigs with a mosh pit and wearing my earplugs, but there is none of that tonight as I settle down in my seat. Stood alone on stage with blue background lighting the curtains, Lloyd stands centre stage barely moving from the same spot throughout.
This really is one for the hardcore Lloyd Cole fans to indulge in the musician’s mastery as very few songs get an introduction, being as they are instantly recognisable to the majority in attendance. Tonight is far from a sell-out, but Lloyd makes light of it by pointing out how much he loves this venue because even when it’s half empty it still sounds full. There may be moodiness in some of his songs, but in between Lloyd keeps the audience engaged and gives the evening a nice intimate feel. In spite of suffering with fingertip pain he copes admirably and you wouldn’t realise as he goes about his show in a relaxed atmosphere.
As a fan of the early material and owner of his first three albums, ‘Rattlesnakes’ is most definitely my first half musical highlight. He also slips in a nice cover of David Bowie’s ballad ‘Can You Hear Me?’. I do enjoy Lloyd’s ‘Top of the Pops’ anecdote from the 80s and how being on that was better than having an orgasm at the time, however on one occasion they couldn’t make the recording so went in a day early to pre-record ‘Jennifer She Said’ and excitedly waited to see it on TOTP only for it not to be played. So he was pleasantly surprised when eight years later they were invited on to play the next song on tonight’s setlist which is ‘Like Lovers Do’, his only solo Top 40 single. And there you have the highs and lows of rock ‘n roll.
The second half of the set kicks off with two classics. I always felt that ‘Are You Ready To Be Heartbroken?’ should have been a single and Sandie Shaw covered it, but disappointingly it only made it to number 68 in the charts. Hearing it stripped back is a thing of beauty and for it to be followed by another eighties masterpiece in ‘Brand New Friend’ has definitely given me high expectations for the second half even if Lloyd does confuse matters by mistakenly singing the second chorus first! Next up is ‘The Idiot’ to which Lloyd explains there are two melodies in the chorus one of which he can’t sing, so we the audience end up singing the “Stop being drug addicts” line on several occasions in a probably not so tuneful manner as Mr Cole.
My surprise highlight of the night is a song from 2006 which Lloyd describes as his greatest year of invisibility. This acoustic version of ‘Woman In The Bar’ gives me a feel of how Morrissey could have been if he didn’t take the wrong turning in latter life. Lloyd’s highlight is obviously ‘Myrtle And Rose’ as it took him almost 40 years to write a song that his mum likes and in his own words it was “absolutely perfectly executed” unlike other songs he had by his own admission f*cked up tonight. Just seeing Lloyd’s genuine happiness brought a glow to the room. The pace increases slightly for ‘Undressed’ in which Lloyd namechecks Cooden Beach to keep the locals happy. He also tells us that any reference in French at the end of the song to him being naked was circa 1985 and not the present day which is probably a more pleasant vision for those who fancied Lloyd back in the day.
In one of the quickest turnarounds for an encore that I have ever witnessed Lloyd is back out in a flash as he has a six-hour drive to Exeter in the morning before having to go out and sing again. ‘Cut Me Down’ and ‘Forest Fire’ end the almost hour-long second set and he receives a standing ovation from his loyal fans after an extensive journey through his back catalogue.
After this laid back performance by Lloyd, this likely lad returns home to watch the Scotland game having avoided the scoreline and despite losing to a late goal to which I would normally find myself crying out in despair, I am actually quite calm and at peace, so if you happen to be feeling like the stresses of the world are on your shoulders then do yourself a favour and capture Lloyd Cole on his solo tour.
Lloyd Cole setlist:
Set 1:
‘Don’t Look Back’ (from his first solo self-named album released in 1990 which reached No.11 in the albums chart. Single reached No.59)
‘Mr Malcontent’ (from 1987 album ‘Mainstream’ which reached No.7 in the albums chart)
‘Trigger Happy’ (from 1995 solo album ‘Love Story’ which reached No.27 in the albums chart)
‘On Pain’ (from 2023 album ‘On Pain’ which reached No.9 in the Indie albums chart)
‘Why In The World?’ (from 2010 album ‘Broken Record’ which reached No.21 in the Indie albums chart)
‘Can You Hear Me?’ (cover of David Bowie’s B side of ‘Golden Years’ released in 1975)
‘Rattlesnakes’ (from 1984 album ‘Rattlesnakes’ which reached No.13 in the albums chart. Single reached No.65)
‘Pay For It’ (from 1991 album ‘Don’t Get Weird On Me Babe’ which reached No.21 in the albums chart)
‘Like Lovers Do’ (from 1995 solo album ‘Love Story’ which reached No.27 in the albums chart. Single reached No.24)
‘The Afterlife’ (from 2019 album ‘Guesswork’ which reached No.4 in the Indie albums chart)
‘Tried To Rock’ (from ‘Lloyd Cole and the Negatives’ 2000 album)
‘My Other Life’ (from 2003 solo album ‘Music In A Foreign Language’ which reached No.18 in the Indie albums chart)
‘2CV’ (from 1984 album ‘Rattlesnakes’ which reached No.13 in the albums chart)
Set 2:
‘Are You Ready To Be Heartbroken?’ (from 1984 album ‘Rattlesnakes’ which reached No.13 in the albums chart)
‘Brand New Friend’ (from 1985 album ‘Easy Pieces’ which reached No.5 in the albums chart. Single reached No.19)
‘The Idiot’ (from 2023 album ‘On Pain’ which reached No.9 in the Indie albums chart)
‘No Blue Skies’ (from his first solo self-named album released in 1990 which reached No.11 in the albums chart. Debut solo single reached No.42)
‘Why I Love Country Music’ (from 1985 album ‘Easy Pieces’ which reached No.5 in the albums chart)
‘Butterfly’ (from 1991 solo album ‘Don’t Get Weird On Me Babe’ which reached No.21 in the albums chart)
‘Traffic’ (from 1995 solo album ‘Love Story’ that reached No.27 in the albums chart)
‘Jennifer She Said’ (from 1987 album ‘Mainstream’ which reached No.7 in the albums chart. Single reached No.31 in the chart)
‘Woman In The Bar’ (from 2006 album ‘Antidepressant’ which reached No.12 in the Indie albums chart)
‘Myrtle And Rose’ (from album ‘Standards’ released in 2013 which reached No.17 in the Indie albums chart)
‘Undressed’ (from his first solo self-named album released in 1990 that reached No.11 in the albums chart)
‘Perfect Skin’ (from 1984 album ‘Rattlesnakes’ which reached No.13 in the albums chart. Single reached No.26)
‘Lost Weekend’ (from 1985 album ‘Easy Pieces’ which reached No.5 in the albums chart. Single reached No.17)
(encore)
‘Cut Me Down’ (from 1985 album ‘Easy Pieces’ which reached No.5 in the albums chart. Single reached No.38)
‘Forest Fire’ (from 1984 album ‘Rattlesnakes’ which reached No.13 in the albums chart. Single reached No.41)
