We’re at a Stereophonics show and there’s quite a lot going on at once.
There’s a light show, of course; the kind of light show that was designed to sit prettily in some of the country’s biggest venues, yet somehow has ended up crammed into an amphitheater whose stage is half the size of most arenas.
There’s a crowd, too; a crowd of a few thousand people, no less, and one that is currently channeling every ounce of their collective energies into bellowing something about bartenders, thieves and lovers back into the faces of the five visibly-chuffed Welshmen standing on a stage a few metres away from them.
Oh, and there’s the minor note that, in the middle of it all, you’ve got one of the biggest – and most consistently brilliant – British rock bands of the last thirty years tearing the roof off of The Eden Project with a set list so unfathomably mighty not even Thor himself could hope to contain it.
Not bad for a Thursday night, huh?
Frankly, it’s hard to comprehend it all at once.
You know how it is: you’re met with an assault on the senses and you just can’t work out which bit to concentrate on first. It’s hard, for example, to figure out how the hell Stereophonics managed to amass one of the most formidable back catalogues in recent memory while still – in the scheme of things – managing to distance themselves from the tabloids in a way that some of their Nineties contemporaries never did.
It’s also quite tricky to comprehend just how bloody talented front-man Kelly Jones is. One moment, he’s whacking out a rip-roaring guitar solo; the next, he’s tenderly tinkling the ivories of a baby grand piano; and all the while, he’s unleashing a set of pipes that haven’t aged a day from the recording of the band’s first album, Word Gets Around, back in 1997.
Sure, we’ve mentioned the set list, but have we really pressed upon you just how jam-packed full of bona fide Nineties bangers it is?
Let’s run through just one five-song section, just to be sure. Traffic? Check. A Thousand Trees? Check. Local Boy In The Photograph, The Bartender and the Thief, and Mr and Mrs Smith? Check, check, and check. Throw in a hearty helping of Dakota to round it all off and it’s safe to say that this humble reviewer had given up hope of having any voice to speak of – or, indeed, speak with – the next day.
Frankly, our one concern is how any artist who’s gracing the Eden Project this year is going to match that. Viva la Stereophonics, and good luck, Nile Rodgers & Chic/Liam Gallagher/The Chemical Brothers/Snow Patrol/Kylie: you’ve got one hell of an act to follow.