Ocean Colour Scene perform blistering summer set of 90s anthems and Britpop bangers for Glasgow crowd

Scottish Sun

30-06-2025

Read on for our reviewer's thoughts on the gig below.
GOT BLOWN AWAY Ocean Colour Scene perform blistering summer set of 90s anthems and Britpop bangers for Glasgow crowd
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IT'S a big year for 90s music nostalgia.
There's comebacks galore in the air - Oasis, Pulp, Supergrass are all touring again.
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The band in their 90s pomp
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Simon Fowler performing in 2014
But some bands from the era never really went away.
And judging by the crowd at Ocean Colour Scene's gig, there's plenty out there who don't want them to - even after all these years.
The band are playing at the Summer Nights On The Southside festival at Glasgow's Queen's Park recreation ground - a return to the city after April's O2 Academy gig.
To read much of today's musical criticism of the 90s, you'd be forgiven for thinking OCS were mere also-rans of an era where there were many.
But you simply can't argue with the wealth of incredible music they produced at their height - and you can't escape the feeling that history has been unkind to them.
There are fewer greater examples of this than The Circle, a stunning anthem that still holds up to this day.
It's one of their more enduring songs from classic album Mosley Shoals, released in 1995.
The album propelled the band to new heights and it's easy to remember why when they delve into it - It's My Shadow and One for the Road are among the highlights.
It's my first time at the Queen's Park venue but it's easy to see why it's become a fixture of Glasgow's summer festival scene.
The Big Top tent is packed with fans who would fall into the "Oasis da" category - bucket hats, a pint in each hand and leaving their rough and ready masculinity at the door to put their arms around each other.
But there's a whole younger crowd here too, and not just men.
The enclosed tent roof is perfect for raucous tracks like Hundred Mile High City and it's razor blade riff, memorably used in the opening of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.
And it's also ideal for sing-a-long anthems, of which OCS have many in their arsenal, like Robin Hood and Go To Sea.
Frontman Simon Fowler even gives the crowd a brief burst of Oasis' Live Forever.
The gig's not just a showcase for Fowler's vocal and songwriting talent, but lead guitarist Steve Cradock's skills too who surely stakes a claim to being the most talented of his generation.
In terms of memorable riffs of the last 30 years, there's few than can touch The Riverboat Song.
OCS even include 2007's powerful anthem Go To Sea, it's hard to see how they couldn't given it's inspired by young Glaswegian men being left with no career prospects after the closure of the shipyards.
The band close out the night with arguably their finest moment, The Day We Caught the Train, and an army of people joining in with every word and then serenading the band off the stage with the epic chorus.
Craddock recently said of the 90s: "People get nostalgic about it because it was such a good time."
It's hard to disagree - but OCS can feel satisfied that their fans, at least, are still having one. And their kids are too.