Supergrass Bring Britpop Brilliance Back to Chicago with I Should Coco Celebration

Sep 10, 2025 admin_bitlc Features, Music News, Reviews 0

Review: Matt James

Photos: Jamie Jacobs

If you haven’t been paying attention it could be quite easy to accuse Supergrass of jumping on the Britpop revival bandwagon started in the last year or so by Blur and Pulp getting back together before the colossal return of Oasis this summer. And while yes this current tour that hit Chicago’s Riviera Theater on Tuesday eveningis a celebration of the 30 year annivesaty of their 1995 debut album I Should Coco, the reformed Supergrass have actually been back at it since just before the Covid shutdown in March 2020.

This has been a global tour that hit the UK, Europe, Australia and South America before the final run of shows here in the US and is the first time Supergrass have been back in Chicago since 2006. Singer and guitarist Gaz Coombes recalled the numerous shows they had played back in the day at The Metro to a gleeful response from the crowd and expressed his liking of his new surroundings inside the Riv.

The set obviously focused mainly on I Should Coco and all 13 of the tracks from that album were performed. Epic opener “I’d Like To Know” quickly moved into the iconic tale of an adolescent run-in with the police “Caught By The Fuzz” and following in album order onto the stompingly fun “Mansize Rooser”. Many would have expected this theme to continue but Supergrass actually changed things up at this point introducing “Late In The Day” from 1997’sIn It For The Money to a very enthusiastic audience response. The ballad is one of the band’s most enduring tunes and hearing it so early in the set was certainly a welcome surprise and pointed to an evening that may not be as predictable as first thought.

The remainder of Coco was played pretty much out of order, interspersed with songs from across Supergrass’ other five studio albums. There were charming moments where members switched instruments with bassist Mick Quinn taking on lead guitar for the loungy psychedelic anthem “Sofa (Of My Lethargy)” and drummer Danny Goffey taking on the bass for a couple of the quirkier numbers (“We’re Not Supposed to” & “Time To Go”).

Coombes introduced “Diamond Hoo Ha Man” from their final album before their 2010 breakup as something that was sounding great in sound check so they threw it onto the set list – a first playing on this tour and also a Chicago debut for the song. This might be regarded as something of a deep cut but like each song played the audience knew it and loved it. While never a huge act this side of the Atlantic, Supergrass’ mix of 60’s and 70’s influenced psychedelic pop, punk, glam and prog cultivated a cult following that clearly has remained strong and loyal.

While I Should Coco was such a seminal and iconic album from the Britpop-era the strength of Supergrass was really demonstrated through the other songs performed here. They crafted so many long-living and vital sounds through their initial run that they could have kept going beyond the 90+ minute set and no one would have been bored. The closing encore 1-2 punch of “Sun Hits the Sky” and “Pumping On Your Stereo” concluded an epic evening of great energy, craft and fun. Supergrass are clearly enjoying their second wave back together and hopefully we’ll see them back in town again, perhaps with some new music to showcase, in the very near future.

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Setlist: Supergrass, I Should Coco 30th Anniversary Tour, Riviera Theatre, Chicago, Illinois Sept 9th, 2025