Photo: Michael Lee Jamison
There are few bands that have split critics and fans over the last two decades to the same degree as Stereophonics. To the majority of the former, Kelly Jones and his band of merry men are dismissed as meat ‘n’ potatoes arena rock-by-numbers - and yet fans still clamour to see the Welsh survivors live with huge fervour.
Tonight the O2 is sold out as the four piece deliver a triumphant, career spanning set that includes recent singles ('C’est la Vie', 'I Wanna Get Lost With You' and 'Song for the Summer'), alongside a wealth of Jones penned classics ('Just Looking', 'Local Boy in the Photograph', 'Superman' et al) all of which have firmly established themselves as key features in the great British pantheon of rock ‘n’ roll.
Playing for over two hours does mean that there is space for the band’s more pedestrian numbers to be included; 'Maybe Tomorrow' is as forgettable in 2015 as it was in 2003; a ticker tape cascade couldn’t disguise the much-maligned blandness of 'Have a Nice Day' and few tears would have been shed had the mediocre drudgery of 'Mr Writer' been left out of the set. To be fair to the band each one of these is rapturously received, further demonstrating the abovementioned dichotomy between hack and fan.
To give Jones his due, the solo acoustic version of 'Traffic' is breath-taking. After 20 years it’s easy to take Jones’ remarkable voice for granted but it still has the ability to entrance. Welcoming Rob Brydon to the stage for an encore of 'Mama Told Me Not to Come' adds a well-received touch of festive cheer before the show, somewhat predictably, concludes with 'Dakota'.
Overall, there’s no doubt though that, after 20 years, the band know how to lay on a crowd pleasing show. And that’s something on which there can be no disagreement.
