It’s just before 9pm. Attracting one of the biggest crowds ever seen for a support slot at Dreamland, Jake Bugg has just delivered a fantastic set, and the venue’s DJ has just traded in the 90s bangers for a JJ Cale track. The subsequent arrival of ‘Whipping Post’ by The Allman Brothers Band lends the feeling that this is at the request of Supergrass mainman Gaz Coombes, keen to build a more retro atmosphere before his band takes the stage.

At 9pm sharp, the Allmans get cut off in their prime; the stage is bathed in red light and Sweet’s classic ‘Blockbuster’ provides a rousing intro tape for the arrival of four figures who are about to whip the audience into a frenzy. Or at least that’s the theory.

Breaking into ‘I’d Like To Know’ without a word, the band are clearly on explosive form. One of the “punkier” ‘I Should Coco’ numbers, this greets the near sell out crowd with a fiery energy; the guitar work is sharp and Danny Goffey’s drums are suitably aggressive, but Gaz’s vocals are half lost within the sound mix. There are elements of his performance bleeding through, but clearly, things are in need of a little adjustment. Not that this spoils an otherwise great track, and a small number of bodies near the front show their appreciation via a unified bounce. The rest of the audience appear strangely sedate. In some ways, this is to be expected from a largely middle aged crowd, at what’s still a relatively early point of the evening, but a lot of people seem oddly…cautious. After a spiky intro for ‘Caught By The Fuzz’, it’s clear that any sound gremlins have been addressed, and the first half of the band’s first hit comes across brilliantly. Despite the song coming from the pen of a then teenager and its lyric addressing a youthful misdemeanour, it still holds up well in middle aged hands, and there’s a terrific amount of aggression cutting through the guitar work. Changing the tempo to create tension before kicking into the last verse is a master stroke, too, and suggests that although Supergrass are in the early stages of sharing the whole of their debut album, unlike the Pixies’ shows at London’s Roundhouse in 2018, Coombes and the lads aren’t about to churn out the tunes verbatim.

Turning things up a notch, ‘Mansize Rooster’ takes pride of place as a stomping crowd pleaser, reminding many of their “out out” Friday night soundtrack of 1996. before one of the band’s signature pieces, ‘Alright’, finally wakes the rest of the crowd. From the moment Rob Coombes’s bright sounding, stabbed piano kicks in, the front of the audience launches into a pogoing mass, whilst the rest becomes a sea of phones. Against the backdrop of little, brightly coloured squares held aloft en masse, Supergrass breathe life into this overplayed track, and a slightly wobbly guitar solo really adds excitement to the piece, reminding everyone that this performance – unlike those of a few veteran rock bands charging extortionate fees – is no less than one hundred percent live.

‘Lose It’ keeps the energy high with the help of another pogo-worthy riff and a whole world of fuzz bass, and much like ‘I’d Like To Know’, the performance loses a little of the studio cut’s finesse – especially when it comes to some of the harmony vocals – but in contrast to that opening performance, this really benefits from the extra roughness, and its a real pleasure to hear Mick absolutely wringing the neck of his bass during the instrumental section. Another set highlight comes from the classic ‘Lenny’ – all pumping bass and percussive brilliance – and throughout the track, Mick continues to impress. His bass work is so tight, and he really gives the band a solid anchor whilst Gaz and Danny attack with a little more verve. Extending the two minute track to include a second outing for the punchy intro and a little more instrumental prowess really works, and it certainly helps to make this feel like the audience are getting far more than a phoned in celebration of a great album.

Album highlight ‘Strange Ones’ offers more punk-esque hijinx, prompting a woman near the back of the audience – all flowing skirt and bucket hat – to break into something that looks like a weird chicken strut*, whilst another skips around in circles by a burger van, as if at some old fashioned barn dance. As with the previous upbeat numbers, Supergrass appear to be working insanely hard, and Goffey’s bass playing is especially immense. He’s never mentioned in the pantheon of great players, and until the list makers move on from just wheeling out Jack Bruce and Geddy Lee every time, unfortunately, this is not likely to change. [*At other times Bucket Hat Lady also appears to enjoy doing the swim, a robot dance, and adopting what’s best described as an “Oasis swagger”, complete with cigarette in one hand and beer bottle wavering in the other. Let’s hope she actually remembers this night in the way it deserves…]

The second half of ‘I Should Coco’ isn’t quite as immediate, but in the live setting, a couple of the record’s deeper cuts really come to life. This is never more obvious than during ‘We’re Not Supposed To’, a number that, on record, seems little more than a brief distraction supplied by pitch adjusted voices and demo-like sound. When played live, the strident acoustic guitar takes centre stage and a louder vocal is on hand to remind everyone that this semi-novelty probably began life as a half decent song before teenage high spirits took over. Likewise, the lengthy ‘Sofa (Of My Lethargy)’ is much better suited to the live setting, and the interplay between Rob Coombes on the keys and Mick on the bass supplies a wealth of entertainment. The instrumental moments really shine and, on this night, appear to take on the form of one of Ian McLagan’s sedate Faces numbers. Stripped of its original vocal filters, the whole number sounds more melodic and is arguably more appealing.

The rest of the ‘Coco’ material is predictably strong: ‘She’s So Loose’ drops into more of an indie vibe; ‘Sitting Up Straight’ presents more frenzied basslines and a ferocious rhythm that’s lost none of its edge over the past three decades, and ‘Time’ provides a great melodic counterpoint, in the hands of a band who sound really sharp. So far, there mightn’t been much of a sense of togetherness beyond ‘Alright’, audience-wise – and even that didn’t summon the kind of mass unity witnessed at the Suede gig in the same location almost a year earlier – but it’s good to see more people now being a little more spontaneous. The first part of the set ends, expectedly, with the quiet ‘Time To Go’, and although nothing here stands out as being in any way special, it allows for a brief moment of reflection before Supergrass re-charge their audience with a superb second act.

Cranking the volume and the riffs, ‘Richard III’ sees the audience in an even more enthused mood than ‘Alright’, and it’s obvious that one of the rockiest Supergrass singles was always meant to be heard live, before a two-fer of ‘Late In The Day’ and ‘Mary’ supplies a more reflective pairing. In some ways, dropping into ‘Mary’ so soon after ‘Late’ feels like the show’s only real mis-step – a lot of the energy is lost here – but it’s a solid performance regardless, and Rob’s electric piano work is absolutely wonderful. With its to and fro between hazy melodies and strong 70s AM radio pop chorus hook, ‘Moving’ sounds like one of the band’s more sophisticated pieces and, judging by the sea of raised hands, it continues to be a fan favourite, and ‘Grace’ – the night’s only concession to anything after the band’s third album – gets the back of the audience singing.

With that, the stage plunges into darkness, without a word. Staying this way for what feels like an unnatural amount of time, several figures in the audience start heading for the exits. It’ll be their loss, as Supergrass clearly aren’t done yet; given how jovial he’s been this evening, there’s no way Gaz would have ended the show without saying even the most cursory of farewells – he’s not Black Francis.

The encore is a short affair tonight, with just two songs shared. However, it’s hard to imagine that anyone will feel in any way short-changed with rousing renditions of ‘Sun Hits The Sky’ – a rockier performance really brings out this track’s edge – and ‘Pumping On Your Stereo’ rounding out a well paced set. Although the set has – as advertised – been heavily weighted towards the debut LP, this has been a show with something of interest for even the most casual attendee.

From a slightly wobbly start, Supergrass have turned in a stormer of a gig tonight. The major hits have ticked many of the crowd pleasing boxes (‘Going Out’ is the only notable absence on this occasion) and for those who’ve followed the band since pretty much day one, the opportunity to hear the debut album ‘I Should Coco’ in full has provided a gig experience to treasure. The likes of Absolute Radio may well have relegated this much-loved Britpop era band’s place in history to regular spins of mega-hit ‘Alright’, but as this night proves, Supergrass have always been so much more than that.

June 2025