Live Review - Black Grape

Black Grape @ Rock City, Nottingham 08/12/16

We feel like someone may have organised a party for recovering 90s drug addicts and Black Grape are the nights band of choice…

The crowd is a mix of middle aged folk trying to recapture their youth, middle aged people who are still stuck in their youth and a few middle aged people who have aged with dignity and maturity and are just looking for a good night with a touch of nostalgia. We’re putting ourselves in along with the latter.

Shaun Ryders’ mix of eclectic musicians are out and about celebrating 21 years since their debut album ‘It’s Great When You’re Straight… Yeah’ first hit the shelves. After struggling with drugs and alcohol for many years, when Shaun departed ways with the Manchester anthemic wonder band The Happy Mondays most thought he’d amount to nothing more than a washed up musician, but it didn’t take Shaun long to bounce back with Black Grape.

With tongue in cheek lyrics, bouncing rhythms and now, with added authenticity of Kermit rapping and writing lyrics; Black Grape soon proved themselves and when ‘It’s Great When You’re Straight’ came out it surprised fans and critics alike. It was a huge hit, 21 years on and Shaun, Kermit and the rest of the band are still clearly having a great time. Kermit seems to be holding the reigns but Shaun’s presence is one of a man who originated, a man many have tried to emulate and a man who stands as a bona-fide legend in musical history. The band are a tight outfit and it seems like the crowd are definitely up for it, singing along with every track from the album with gusto and an energy that some will probably regret when sitting back at their desks tomorrow morning with a sore throat from singing and a bad back from bouncing up and down for the first time since 1998. Shaun and Kermits’ on stage banter is top notch without it feeling like an ‘in joke’, they interact with the crowd well during as well as between songs.

It did seem like they may have been dragging a few of the more well known tracks out a bit lengthwise, but with only one big album and a whole set to fill that’s not necessarily a bad thing and to be expected. Overall it does nothing to harm the set, if anything it gave the crowd a chance to sing and bounce along more so to those hits.

With the promise of a new album due out next year, this isn’t the last we’ve seen of Shaun Ryder and Black Grape, we hope the new album brings good things and we’re sure it will.