Lloyd Cole’s choice of outfit for this show at Coventry Cathedral couldn’t have been more appropriate. After all, when a figure dressed all in white strolls out to the acclaim of his disciples in a house of God, who’s to say it’s not the second coming?

And in some ways - bear with me, we can make this link work - it was, as Cole’s latest tour sees him return to the stage with a full band for the first time since before Covid, giving him the chance to perform accurate readings of songs from his recent electronic albums, which in turn were inspired by a need to change direction after what he claims were his ‘invisible years’.

Those terrific longplayers – 2019’s Guesswork and this year’s On Pain – were well represented in this two-set live show (“we’re our own opening act” quipped the singer), which was advertised as acoustic followed by electric but in practice the categorisation only applied to Cole himself. The remaining players - drummer/percussionist Signy Jakobsdottir and former Commotions Neil Clark and Blair Cowan on guitar and keyboards respectively - were plugged in throughout, offering consummate backing to the singer’s intricate guitar and reliable bass playing and sublime time-defying vocals.

Every element had a chance to shine during a well-judged set that visited all areas of the singer’s career, from Commotions classics such as Perfect Skin, Forest Fire and Rattlesnakes (though sadly no Lost Weekend) through his early noughties Americana (Pay For It, Undressed) to recent numbers including Violins and The Idiot. Cole had already joked that most of the audience “wouldn’t know anything from the last 20 years” and his claim was confirmed when the crowd clapped what they thought was the end of recent epic Wolves only for it to continue for another three minutes. “The recent songs display a more electronic influence,” explained Cole. “And tend to go on longer than you would think.”

The deadpan humour was almost as entertaining as the wonderful music, but perhaps awed by the venue, the partisan crowd were reverential rather than raucous in their response. Entirely understandable given that Cole was performing under the cathedral’s stunning tapestry of Christ – even more impressive as it changed colour with the lighting -  but a little more Commotion might not have been a bad thing.

4 stars

Reviewed by Steve Adams on Saturday 28 October.