THEY are one of the best bands Oxfordshire has ever produced – with only Radiohead and Foals sharing their rock & roll status and fame. Now, after nine years apart, Supergrass have reformed.
The Wheatley band of Gaz Coombes, Mick Quinn, Danny Goffey, and Rob Coombes, were the surprise special guests at the Pilton Party in Glastonbury on Friday – a small event laid on to thank local residents and staff of June’s Glastonbury Festival. Tonight they play a sold-out show at Oslo in Hackney, East London.
Danny says: “Everything aligned for us to make this happen for 2020. It was the first time that we collectively felt the buzz to get back in a room together and play the songs.
“We’re extremely excited to get out there and bring a bit of Supergrass joy to all our fans... and their extended families.”
A series of 13 live dates has been released for next year, starting with Paris on February 4, though no shows in Oxford have been announced so far.
The closest are the O2 Academy Birmingham and London’s Alexandra Palace on March 3 and 6 respectively. They then jet off to play Los Angeles and New York.
Read more: Gaz Coombes to have a 'super' time at historic Oxford venue
Fans, who have been left delighted that the widely circulated rumours of the band’s imminent reunion proved correct, are hoping the band will squeeze a hometown show between the dates.
Supergrass were one of the biggest bands of the 90s, scoring six top 20 albums, three of them platinum – including 1995’s I Should Coco, which was the biggest-selling debut for Parlophone since the Beatles released Please Please Me in 1963.
Hits included chart-topper Alright, Richard III, Sun Hits The Sky, Pumping On Your Stereo, Moving and Grace.
One of the last dates the band played before their split was Oxfordshire’s Truck Festival in July 2009.
Band members have been busy in the interim.
Frontman Gaz has released three solo albums, Here Come the Bombs, the Mercury Prize nominated Matador and latest LP World’s Strongest Man, and has been performing and recording with a hand-picked bunch of Oxford musicians and friends.
Read more: Gaz Coombes raises the roof with stunning orchestral show
In May he played a charity concert at Oxford’s Sheldonian Theatre to celebrate the venue’s 350th anniversary. All proceeds from the concert were donated to Oxford charities Yellow Submarine, which supports people with learning difficulties, and the Young Women’s Music Project – which aims to get more girls and women into contemporary music.
Gaz played the Cornbury Festival in July, dedicating a song to his daughter, who he revealed is living with autism.
Mick has been playing with his own DB Band, and played with Swervedriver, while Danny has released solo material including album last year’s Schtick.
The band are not thought to be returning to the studio.
Ronan Munro, editor of Oxford's free monthly music magazine Nighshift, said: "It’s great to have them back; they’re one of the great cornerstones of Oxford’s musical reputation around the world.
"I couldn’t imagine a better way to come back to Oxford than a Truck Festival headline set - maybe with a secret warm-up show at The Jericho Tavern – bringing it back to where it all began for them."
Read more: Gaz Coombes joins Mercury Prize judging panel
As well as the live dates, the band have today unveiled a career spanning ‘best of’ package.
The album – ‘Supergrass: The Strange Ones 1994 - 2008’ marks the 25th anniversary of I Should Coco, and will be released in January. It will contain their six original albums on picture disc LP and CD, bonus CDs of unreleased live material, B-sides, remixes, rarities, studio out-takes, demos, acoustic versions, oddities, new mixes, a deluxe book, posters and badges.
Picture: Marc West
It will also feature six hours of previously unreleased audio material.
Tickets for the gigs go on sale at 9pm on Friday.
LIVE DATES:
Tonight: Oslo, Hackney - SOLD OUT
February 2020
4th – Paris, France - Casino de Paris
5th - Brussels, Belgium - Ancienne Belgique
7th - Amsterdam, Netherlands - Paradiso
14th - Dublin, Republic of Ireland - Olympia Theatre
17th - Belfast, Northern Ireland - Ulster Hall
20th - Glasgow, Scotland - Barrowland Ballroom
24th - Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, England - O2 Academy Newcastle
26th - Manchester, England - O2 Victoria Warehouse
29th - Leeds, England - O2 Academy Leeds
March
3rd - Birmingham, England - O2 Academy Birmingham
6th - London, England - Alexandra Palace
April
2nd – Los Angeles – Wiltern
8th – New York, NY – Webster Hall
* Supergrass: ‘The Strange Ones 1994-2008’ - Multi-Format ‘Best Of’
is out on January 24, 2020
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