Wednesday 25/10/06 Graham Coxon @ The Astoria, London

Tonight’s gig is special, and not just because an excited crowd crammed into the dark rows of The Astoria are here to see Blur’s uber popular ex-guitarist – the most popular geek in town – Graham Coxon. The show sees the birth of pot noodle pop. We’re on tape and minutes after Coxon steps off stage, fans exiting the building will be able to buy copies of a new double CD, ‘Burnt to Bitz’, the result of the night’s filming.

There’s at least a half hour build up, giving the capacity crowd plenty of time to wind themselves up. The Astoria must be a frightening place to play – crowds staring down menacingly from above – but Coxon has no need to worry. Despite the fact that ‘Love Travels at Illegal Speeds’ only reached twenty-four in the album charts – not a patch on Mr Albarn’s efforts - the crowd here tonight is proof that he’s a popular man, and he proves that the loyalty of his fans is warranted. The banner pinned behind the musicians reads ‘Make Shit not War’. Luckily the crowd is not up for a fight and Coxon is far from shit.

The performance is a mixture of comedy and sheer musical ability, and from the moment the man removes his glasses – a decision he seems to regret, as he rubs his eyes throughout the performance, and seems not to be able to see – and rips into a riff half way through his first tune, Coxon treats us to a run through of all the catchy punk ditties from 2004’s ‘Happiness in Magazines.’

The crowd goes predictably wild for ‘Bitter Sweet Bundle of Misery’ and ‘Freakin’ Out’ (a track that Coxon seems reluctant to play), remains mostly silent for some of the newer tracks, and laughs at the awkward jokes muttered in a Joe Pasquale squeak. It all slows down a bit at the end, the crowd seemingly not quite acquainted with some of the newer songs, but all in all it is exactly the type of energetic performance we have come to expect from a man who, despite only having embarked on his solo career proper a couple of years back, seems to have been going it alone for years.

Coxon has managed to stand-alone from the moment his solo efforts hit the mainstream. Ex-Band mate Daman Albarn is about to launch The Good, The Bad and The Queen, a star studded enterprise set to match his success with Gorillaz, but Coxon has created his own niche, and is already a legend in his own right; each song a whistle sitting on the lips of every radio listener in the country. Tonight is a fine example of a man at the top of his game, and now it’s all on CD for your listening pleasure.

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