The Coral: Live at Skeleton Coast - 7/10

It is rare for live albums to receive the same attention and affection as an artist’s studio albums but, they can capture a band or artist at the height of their powers and taking risks or trying sounds they would never attempt in the studio. Some have even gone on to enjoy legendary status – think ‘Live at Leeds’ by the Who or Bob Dylan’s infamous 1966 Royal Albert Hall concert recording.

For the Coral, this live record (capturing their headline performance at the 2018 Skeleton Coast festival on Merseyside) comes at least 10 years too late to capture them at the height of their powers. It does, however, remind the listener of what a brilliant band they are and how many great songs they’ve written since they emerged in the early noughties.

The performance finds them in fine fettle and, although audience interaction is limited to a few “y’alright’s”, it doesn’t detract from the listen as the music does all the talking needed. The setlist swings through the collection of the Coral’s discography with 2003’s ‘Magic and Medicine’ and 2016’s ‘Distance In-Between’ each getting the most prominent airing here.

It is a joy to hear some of the band’s classics brought to life on stage. The stirring early single ‘Pass it On’ receives a warm response from the crowd and similarly ‘Bill McCai’ thumps in to life as James Skelly relays the tragic tale of the worn out life of the song’s protagonist.

The set does lose a sense of fun towards the middle when the band perform numbers from the more serious and brooding 2016 collection ‘The Distance In-Between’. The songs sound great but lack the scally sparkle of their earlier material.

Any dust is blown swiftly away from the cobwebs however with the set’s closing tracks. ‘Goodbye’ is given an extended airing and, although the 08:44 version feels a tad indulgent, it does have an electric finish! Closer ‘Dreaming of You’ lifts the set to a heady conclusion and the song sounds as joyous and playful as it did when it was released nearly 20 years ago.

A classic it may not be, but ‘Live at Skeleton Coast’ is a must listen for fans of the Coral and a good way for any newcomers to the band to experience the breadth and depth of the back catalogue of these scouse statesmen.