Marc Evans goes back to his (not so distant) youth with a blast of Brit-pop brilliance by The Bluetones 

MAKING more than a slight return following their split in 2011, the Bluetones rocked up at the O2 Academy as part of their comeback Extended Jukebox tour, and it was like they'd never been away.

It's exactly 20 years since the Hounslow band arrived on the Britpop scene with Expecting to Fly, and there were plenty of nods to their melodic debut – Talking to Clarry, Cut Some Rug and Carn't be Trusted and The Fountainhead sounding as fresh as they did in the mid-90s to a nostalgic audience. Not forgetting the brilliant Bluetonic.

Lead singer Mark Morriss is an utterly engaging frontman, genuinely funny and full of repartee – with loads of self-deprecating digs at the band and their audience. A lesson in not taking yourself too seriously.

The music, however, deserves to be taken very seriously indeed. The greatest hits format was a chance to show off just what an impressive back catalogue they have. There's the wonderful Marblehead Johnson – which always brings a tear to my eye as it brings back memories of England getting knocked out of some football tournament or other, thanks to its use in a highlights montage – the raucous singalong Solomon Bites the Worm, the epic Are You Blue or Are You Blind, Mudslide, and that ode to the lock-in, After Hours.

Their most famous hit Slight Return of course gets an airing, after some faux reluctance from Morriss to sing it for the umpteenth time in his career. And we get a moving cover of Prince's I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man, a fitting tribute to the Purple One.

Another '80s icon gets the Bluetones treatment when encore song The Simple Things turns into Madonna's Express Yourself by the end of the track.

They finish off with If, and by the end we're all na na na na na-ing our way out into the Cowley Road, feeling 20 years younger, if not necessarily looking it.

Marc Evans

4/5