S.Lo on October 3rd, 2018

1

Many Blur fans in L.A. haven’t seen their guitar hero Graham Coxon since the band’s momentous Hollywood Bowl show in 2015. And Monday night’s acoustic show at the Lodge Room was in stark contrast, with its intimacy, space for jokes and banter with the audience.

Coxon treated all to special solo acoustic editions of his work (including from his score for the television show “The End of the F***ing World”), a couple Blur covers, a Blind Faith cover, an Elizabeth Cotton cover, an appearance by That Dog’s Rachel Haden on backup vocals as well as a tribute to Chas Hodges, who died a little over a week ago at age 74. In all he played 20 songs (including one of the impromptu requests hurled at him from the audience), plus seven more for the encore. Even so, the audience groaned with sadness when, for the second time, he said he was playing his last song of the evening, and this time he really meant it.

From the moment Coxon sat down on his center stage chair for the evening, he was disarmed by a sight in front of him. “What’s that?” he asked a fan, to which she replied that she brought her baby. There was, indeed a living room feel among the family of longtime Blur fans who relished this occasion to share a small space with the singer-songwriter. Coxon kicked the night off by playing “R U Lonely?” from his first solo album in 1998, “The Sky Is Too High.” His chord-change heavy songwriting style meant many guitar re-tunings throughout the set, making room for humorous banter, initially due to the difference between American and British accents, Coxon pointed out. A fan yelled during one of those tunings, “I love you!” to which he quipped, “That’s alright, I heard that,” bringing chuckles in the crowd who felt the same.

Coxon shared a couple of the ready-to-be-released songs for which he’s still looking for a label — or a different singer, as he half-joked, “I hope Jeff Bridges hears this so he’ll record it,” when introducing “That Someone Ain’t You,” followed by the also unreleased “Alright.” It might just be the right time for lines such as, “I don’t see the light that shines from his behind,” to get massive airplay (Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?).

Like Joni Mitchell, Coxon changed the tuning of his guitar according to what the song required. At one point, sharing his utter frustration tuning the B string, an audience member yelled, “To be or not to be!” After some laughter, Coxon shared that another musician said it couldn’t be done and gave up, “Then I’m not gonna bother,” before strumming beautifully with open strings, a few actual bar chords and a looper for “Flights to the Sea (Lovely Rain).”

Introducing “Angry Me,” written for the television show, “The End of the F***ing World,” he quizzed the audience, “You have to guess, is that song autobiographical? What year is it influenced by? … You don’t have to play.” It sounded a bit like Iggy and the Stooges, Coxon-style.

His dry British humor shined best after revealing that he was drinking a concoction of 60% Red Bull and 40% apple juice, then referenced the audience member who asked, “Someone get him a drink so he doesn’t have to make a comment about yours.” Laughter ensued, including from that audience member.

A few special highlights of the evening that differed from other performances on his tour included the appearance of Haden to sing backup on the outro to “Walking All Day,” granting a song request from the audience (“Bus Stop”) and that tribute to Hodges, singing “Ain’t No Pleasin’ You,” which was Chas & Dave’s biggest hit.

During the seven-song encore, Coxon said, “Thanks for being so patient.” He made the three-year wait well worth it.

L.A. singer-songwriter Okudaxij (Eric Radloff) opened the evening.

Setlist: R U Lonely?; Latte; Baby, You’re Out of Your Mind; Falling; All Over Me; That Someone Ain’t You (unreleased); Alright (unreleased); Don’t Believe Anything I Say; Flights to the Sea (Lovely Rain); Angry Me; Saturday Night; It’s All Blue; Bus Stop; She Left the Light On; Roaming Star; Can’t Find My Way Home (Blind Faith cover); Miss America (Blur cover); All the Rage (unreleased); Brave the Storm; and Walking All Day (with Rachel Haden of That Dog). Encore: Ain’t No Pleasin’ You (Chas & Dave cover); Oh Babe It Ain’t No Lie (Elizabeth Cotton cover); In the Morning; You’re So Great (Blur cover); There’s Something in the Way That You Cry; See a Better Day; Sorrow’s Army.