Parkas, Pints and Power Chords, Ocean Colour Scene Ignite a Mod Revival in Liverpool
- Desh Kapur
- Mar 1
- 3 min read
O2 Academy Liverpool - 28th February 2026
WORDS / IMAGES DESH KAPUR
On a night when Liverpool F.C. had already stirred the city into post-match overdrive, shifting the mood required something more than routine nostalgia. But as the red shirts drifted away and parkas began to gather outside O2 Academy Liverpool on February 28th, it was clear this wasn’t just another tour stop for Ocean Colour Scene. It felt more like a homecoming of sorts — a gathering of the faithful.
The cold had that late-winter bite unique to Merseyside, the kind that cuts through gloves and denim. Still, there was a sense of anticipation building on the pavement: desert boots scraping the concrete, Fred Perry collars turned up against the chill, Pretty Green badges catching the streetlight. Football chants gave way to talk of setlists. By the time the doors opened, the Mods had claimed the night.
The lights dropped to the unmistakable Hammond swell of “Green Onions” by Booker T. & the M.G.’s — a deliberate nod to the soul records that sit at the foundation of Ocean Colour Scene’s sound. The stage washed green. No dramatic pause, no drawn-out entrance. They walked on and opened with “The Circle”.
That opening guitar figure still carries a particular kind of ache — reflective without being maudlin. Live, the song breathes differently than it does on record. It builds patiently before stretching out into a closing passage that allows Steve Cradock room to roam. His playing isn’t about speed or flash; it’s about texture. Notes are bent until they almost fray, blues phrases spill into something looser and more exploratory. The crowd listens, then leans in.
Yes, the band wear the years more visibly now. But the sound hasn’t thinned. Simon Fowler’s voice retains its grain and warmth — expressive without overselling the emotion. At points, the audience’s enthusiasm nearly engulfs him, but it’s less a struggle and more a shared lead vocal. He steps back, lets them carry it, then slips back in.
The setlist draws heavily from the mid-’90s records, and there’s no apology in that. “The Riverboat Song” with its coiled, circular riff intact, unfolding into a closing section that feels looser and dirtier than its studio counterpart. “July” with a muscular directness, while “Hundred Mile High City” rattles along at full tilt, its extended ending allowing the band to stretch rather than simply replicate.
In contrast, “Fleeting Mind” slows the temperature. Its opening lingers, Cradock tracing careful melodic lines before the song settles into its folk-tinged sway. It’s a reminder that beneath the Mod aesthetic sits a band deeply rooted in ’60s and ’70s songcraft.
“Travellers Tune” and “Profit in Peace” transform the Academy into something closer to a community chorus. Arms rise instinctively. Lyrics are delivered back to the stage with clarity and force. Whatever critical shorthand once placed Ocean Colour Scene on the periphery of Britpop feels irrelevant here; the connection in the room is tangible and unforced.
The closing stretch belongs, inevitably, to “The Day We Caught the Train”. The verses are restrained, almost conversational. Then the chorus arrives and the entire room commits to it . The song doesn’t explode; it opens up. It carries that particular tension between youth remembered and time acknowledged, which perhaps resonates even more now than it did on release. At moments, Fowler is barely audible over the crowd. He doesn’t need to be.
Ocean Colour Scene’s strength has never been reinvention for its own sake. It’s in the way their songs expand live. Two and a half decades on from their peak commercial years, Ocean Colour Scene aren’t clinging to legacy. They’re simply inhabiting it — comfortably, confidently, and on nights like this, convincingly.
SET LIST (Taken from previous nights show)
Green Onions
(Booker T. & the MG’s song)
The Circle
I Just Need Myself
One for the Road
Families
Fleeting Mind
July
It's My Shadow
Profit in Peace
Go to Sea
Get Away
Better Day
Get Blown Away
Travellers Tune
Hundred Mile High City
ENCORE
Robin Hood
The Riverboat Song
The Day We Caught the Train
FOLLOW OCEAN COLOUR SCENE
Comments