Graham coxon performs intimate acoustic show in detroit
- Samantha Blovits
- Sep 25, 2018
- 3 min read
The founding member and guitarist for popular 90's band Blur has been hard at work during periods of absence from the band, building up quite the solo catalog, releasing 9 official solo recordings since 1998. His latest release was a soundtrack for the successful Netflix series "The End Of The F***ing World", which has connected Coxon with younger audiences once again.
Starting this September, Coxon set out for his first full solo North American tour since 2005. Fans of the guitar virtuoso knew that this was very much a special occasion; one not to miss. The tour is only hitting 10 cities, and I was rather shocked and exhilarated to find that Detroit was one of them! And the first U.S. date to boot!
Canadian Devon Welsh opened in Detroit, finally arriving on the El Club stage at 9:15pm due to power outage issues caused by an early morning storm in Southeast Michigan. The powerful singer had a tone that would best be heard bouncing off stained glass windows, mastering atmospheric poem-songs. A little slow at times, but still enjoyable for the most part.
Graham Coxon walked on stage at 10pm with the stage lights on and a sheepish smile. Set in the very center of the stage was a chair, a pedal board equipped with a looping mechanism, a small side table, a mic stand, and two guitars. The acoustic he would be playing for the majority of the night was American made, he informed us, special for the occasion of playing in the States again.
What followed was an absolutely lovely evening and one of the most intimate gigs I have ever attended. A friend and I were genuinely about 4-5 feet away from Graham as he played. There was probably under 100 fans in attendance, loosely arranging around the small stage. Coxon was in typical quick witted form, joking and bantering with audience. It was as if we had all just planned a get together in someone's living room and Graham Coxon showed up with a guitar.
Multiple times during the show, Coxon threw his glasses off of his face and onto the floor, as they were sliding down his nose to far as he was playing. This is just one of the guitarists quirky mannerisms. Another would be ruffling a hand through his hair in-between songs, or even his dead pan stare into the audience as he tuned his guitar.
"What are we laughing about now?" Coxon questioned with a knowing grin.
Coxon played for almost 2.5 hours, seamlessly meandering through acoustic versions of songs that ranged even back to Blur days. It is important to note that Coxon is arguably one of the most innovative and skilled guitarists of this generation. He started out playing in a rock band, of course, but since then he has released albums variety of different genres including acoustic and punk. Coxon has worked to push the boundaries of what it means to play guitar and to explore every possible sound he is capable of making, and not just with the guitar. Coxon is credited with playing the majority of the instruments on his solo records as well!
As displayed on his acoustic album "The Spinning Top", he expertly fingerpicks through multiple tunes at expert speed. Very uncanny for a rock guitarist, and I'd like to challenge any rock-based guitarist do it any better.
Charming and as likeable as ever, Coxon's banter with the audience was arguably the most entertaining aspect of the show.
"It's a lot harder to do shows this late nowadays," Coxon joked as he stretched his arms.
"You should try yoga, Graham," said my friend.
"Oh yoga? I already did that this morning...oh not that type of yoga," he replied with a cheeky smile before absentmindedly beginning the next song.
Personal highlights of the show for me included: "In The Morning", "Flights To The Sea", "Walking All Day" (the hit from the new soundtrack), and "You're So Great" (a fan favorite Blur song which Coxon actually sang lead on, over famous frontman Damon Albarn, for the studio version).
After the show we got the chance to catch Graham and quickly grab a picture and thank him. He was kind, but clearly tired. Shows until 12:30am can do that to you, but he was gracious still. It was such a privilege to get a chance to see Coxon on American soil, we knew we were the ones in the know at this tiny club in Mexico Town in Detroit. Magic happened that night, in the dim hole in the wall that is El Club. Cheers, Graham!
Come back soon.
Here's a clip of Graham Coxon performing "You're So Great" in Detroit:
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