Lloyd Cole – Olympia – Live Review
by Killian Laher

Sun 8th Oct 2023

While Lloyd Cole is a frequent visitor to Ireland, his shows are generally solo/acoustic, so this was a rare opportunity to see him with a band. He appeared at 8pm, sharp dressed in messianic white, opening the show with a solo rendition of Don’t Look Back before Neil Clark joined him for Mr Malcontent. Fellow ex-Commotion Blair Cowan joined on keyboards with Signy Jakobsdottir on one of the most elaborate drum setups I’ve ever seen. A guitar-heavy rendition of On Pain impressed as Cole and co attempted to mix old and new. Although the audience was largely there to hear Commotions-era favourites, such as 2CV and Rattlesnakes, the set touched on almost all corners of his back catalogue. My Other Life and Tried To Rock were warmly received, and they even played a snatch of Headlights (from 2001’s instrumental Plastic Wood). The first set (the support set) culminated with a soaring version of Are You Ready To Be Heartbroken, with Cowan and Jakobsdottir providing subtle backing to Cole and Clark’s intricate guitar duel.

For their ‘headline’ set they opened with No Blue Skies which gave Clark the opportunity to play some impressive lead guitar, before the ensemble dragged proceedings up to date with the keyboard dominated Night Sweats and Violins. Both of these are on 2019’s Guesswork album which the laconic Lloyd Cole informed us was for sale in the foyer. After a false start, Blue Like Mars (“another one that you don’t know”) gave Neil Clark the chance to cut loose on guitar as Cole backed him ably on bass. Cole seemed in good form, with gentle dry humour as he asked the crowd how his hair looked to responses of “I love you Lloyd…. I love you MORE!”. Muscular versions of Mister Wrong and Perfect Skin – very, very rock ‘n’ roll – were followed up by the swirling keyboards of Wolves. A strong set concluded with Forest Fire with Clark’s guitar solo present and correct, before a low-key encore of The Young Idealists and Mainstream.

It’s probably the closest thing anyone will get to a Commotions reunion, the at times dubious audience was definitely won over by a set which avoided reaching directly for the obvious crowd-pleasers.