Supergrass live at London Roundhouse: Review

Richard Bowes 26 May, 2025

by Richard Bowes

Photo of supergrass headlining day 3 of tramlines festival 2021 (gary mather for live4ever)

Supergrass headlining Tramlines Festival (Gary Mather for Live4ever)

4 stars hq

Still very much a gang, Supergrass play off one another effortlessly.

Thirty years after the testosterone fuelled I Should Coco burst into the world, Supergrass are commemorating its impact.

Tonight’s (May 22nd) show, the second of three at the Roundhouse in Camden, is a reminder of just how tight, inventive and gloriously fun that the four-piece band of brothers can be.

Playing the album in order (as is practice), Supergrass open with the glam-stomp gallop of I’d Like To Know, setting a precedent for the evening: urgent, unpredictable and executed with master precision.

Less a song than a suite of rock movements crammed into four minutes (each one cut off in its prime), the crowd sing when required with nostalgic gusto but also as an eruption of communal energy.

Yet even then, it pales into significance next to the first single of the night, Caught By The Fuzz. Ever the wily showmen, Supergrass slightly delay the gallop into the final verse, Danny Goffey’s drumming characteristically pulverising and Mick Quinn’s outstanding bass playing possibly the band’s secret weapon.

Mansize Rooster swaggers in on a honky-tonk groove, with Rob Coombes (their unheralded hero) on keys providing a sinewy backbone and the audience playing their part with a deafening, “Why you looking so lonely?”.

Following it, the band’s biggest song, Alright (referred to as ‘Track Number Four On The Album’) has lost none of its joy, yet one senses they were relieved to dispatch it early in the set. For all its youthful spirit, Gaz Coombes’ stinging guitar solo elevates the ubiquitous song.

Then for a trio of tracks driven by pure glam-punk aggression: Lose It remains a brutal assault, all buzzsaw guitars and snarling vocals, while the riff of Lenny is doubled, locking the relentless, mechanical riff that would go on forever if the band would let it.

YouTube video

Strange Ones swings with fuzzy swagger while Sitting Up Straight jolts via wiry funk and half- scatted vocals. A reminder that, for all the criticism Britpop now gets, it was an adventurous time, not least for this group of Oxfordshire urchins.

Still very much a gang, Supergrass play off one another effortlessly. Gaz Coombes in trademark fedora leads with cool authority, while Quinn, stoic on bass as ever, introduces She’s So Loose with the revelation that it’s, “about having sex with older ladies – if that’s still allowed”.

We’re Not Supposed To sees Goffey join them at the front of the stage on bass (as he does on Time To Go), and the bonkers little ditty is given some context: “There may have been some acid involved.”

After the album, a run of hits from the best singles band of their generation. ‘Richard III’ fries the air with beefy chords and gonzo-punk energy, and the ‘woo’ that introduces the song fills the room. Still Supergrass’ most underrated song.

The stoned swagger of Late In The Day is followed by the frenzied wall of sound of Mary (with Rob excelling again), before the snappy Seen The Light and the melancholic Moving, which receives the biggest cheer of the night.

The T. Rex bar-room brawl of Grace closes the main set, before an encore of pure celebration: Sun Hits the Sky, with its incandescent cry of, “I am a doctor”, probably heard in Westminster, before the crowd sings the intro to Pumping On Your Stereo. Gaz encourages the crowd to sing louder, who of course oblige before he and his bandmates come crashing in.

While Supergrass are clearly revelling in the opportunity to roll back the years, it simply highlights how good a band they’ve always been.

Four great musicians playing one great album plus change. Far more than just alright.

Support Live4ever : SHOP

| Vinyl & Merch | Boxsets | CDs | Instruments & Gear |

at Townsend Music & Gear 4 Music

Tags:richard bowes, Supergrass