The Coral at Electric Ballroom

With all the finesse of seasoned rock stars, The Coral played to a sea of undoubtedly loyal, long-time fans Thursday night at the Electric Ballroom.

Boasting a few Twitter followers more than your local social media influencer, the English ensemble may not be internationally famous, nor do they belt out poppy, mainstream melodies. Their fans, however, were bustling with excitement before the show; people lined every inch of the venue, packing it to the rim on a weeknight. No extra-fancy lightshows, no over-the-top décor, just a band and their instruments – and the audience wanted nothing more.

Their vigour certainly didn’t fade as The Coral gave no more than a few words to introduce themselves, then delved straight into their feel-good music. They started off their performance with Sweet Release from their most recent album Move Through the Dawn, then took it back to long-time fan-favourites such as Secret Kiss, Jacqueline and Pass it On. After a surprise, spot-on cover of the beloved 1960’s classic Heart Full of Soul by The Yardbirds, the rockers played two more songs before their encore of Goodbye and Dreaming of You.

In between each two- to three-minute ballad, fedora-clad lead vocalist James Skelly would take a sip of beer, mumble “Next one is…”, and jump right into it. That was all the hype the crowd needed to throw their fists into the air and whole-heartedly sing along to their favourite tracks of the early 2000s. It must be said, this group know exactly what their listeners want.

The Coral evoke an image of an underground version of The Beatles – excruciatingly underrated, but with a sturdy, devoted fan-base. A no-fuss, straight-to-the-music type of band that did exactly what they came to do – and the crowd was loving it.

Kari Megeed
Photos: Virginie Viche

For further information and future events visit The Coral’s website here.

Watch the video for Sweet Release here: