The Cooper Temple Clause - Live at Koko

The Cooper Temple Clause – Koko, 18^th October 2006

Your humble correspondent must admit to being a bit of a Coopers fan-boy and has seen them more times than is probably decent. Their performances are always fantastic, creating an energy live that can’t be caught properly on record and tonight’s gig at Koko is no exception.

Usually bands move TOWARDS getting “experimental” and buggering about with synthesisers and other such electronic witchcraft, but the Coopers have recently gone the opposite way and focussed less on their keyboards and more on their guitars. This has given a lot of their newest material a punch that’s in full effect tonight, as they tear through a 14-song set of old and new tracks that gets the audience jumping, moshing and bouncing until the very end. Sweat-streaked and gleefully exhausted by the end, this Neon Buzz monkey can say without hesitation that the Coopers are currently at the top of their game on this tour.

The Cooper Temple Clause aren’t the most accessible band and, to their credit, probably never will be, so if you like them the chances are you’ve already seen them live and absolutely loved it. But they’re a live band at heart and if you don’t like them, their live show will give an idea of what they’re really about – who knows, it might even win you over. The point is that the Coopers are currently putting on some of the best shows they’ve ever done – even the objective gig-goer should be ready to have their socks knocked well and truly off.