After an hiatus of five years, Miles Kane strutted back into his home city for a memorable closing night on his pre -release “Coup de Grace” album tour.
Ever the master showman, the local hero whetted our appetites with little sample bites of his new album, due to land on 10 August, interspersed with favourites from his previous two solo albums.
The evening’s proceedings got off to a roaring start with The Mysterines who have proved a fitting support on this tour which has seen them graduate as fully fledged rock stars. Let’s face it; touring with Miles Kane must be one hell of an education!
The Mysterines lead singer and guitarist Lia Metcalfe has a voice and song writing talent that belies her tender years. The trio packed a spectacular punch throughout with a host of full on songs, one worthy of particular note being “Whore moan”; a typical example of the band’s cleverly crafted lyrics. Stand out track of the set “Gasoline” with the chorus “I really love to hate you” really whipped the crowd up ready for the return of the prodigal son.
As the lights dimmed for the impending arrival of the headliner, “Young hearts run free “by Candi Staton blasted over the PA raising a few smiles on the way. Before the first bar of “Counting down the days” was struck, huge cheers erupted amidst much arm waving, chanting and pints held dangerously aloft. It felt at times like you were stood in a boxing match or football match crowd. There was clearly a lot of love in the room for Miles as he emerged in customary sharp suit, but minus a shirt. The boys want to be him; the girls want to be with him.
The crowd pleasing “Inhaler” upped the mood even further and such was the intensity of the heat inside Hangar 34 that some people may have needed to have used one. Throughout the night, mass sing alongs punctuated the set; the fans sang in the introduction to “Better than that” and continued chanting the chorus to “Don’t forget who you are“ long after the song finished prompting Miles to strum along and play the song out once again.
Along the tour, new songs had been unveiled for the first time. Liverpool was the host for the premiere for “Shavambacu” which went down well and “Too little too late” was going down well until a fight in the audience stopped play momentarily. Miles appealed for calm as the culprits were efficiently extracted and bundled through the stage exit to a cacophony of boos.
As the evening progressed, Mr Kane removed his suit jacket and completed the gig topless; much to the delight of the female factions of the audience. To add to their amusement and delight, a cheeky cover of Donna Summer’s “Hot stuff” raised the temperature even further. Security was kept busy once again when Miles climbed down into the crowd to sing new album title track “Coup de grace”. Luckily he was returned safely to the stage to play the closing tune on an electrifying set with “Come Closer”.
Miles is looking good, the new album sounding fantastic and it will certainly pack a death blow or “Coup de grace” to anyone who begs to differ.
Words and pictures by Jane Davies
