A NUMBER of rock ‘n’ roll stars will be performing intimate shows in Jersey over the coming months, writes TOM OGG.
Organised by Island Music, the performances will begin on Saturday 11 October when John Smith takes to the stage at the Blue Note Bar in St Helier.
The Essex-born folk musician has amassed a dedicated following in recent decades, both for his supporting turns with such artists as, among others, Jackson Browne, David Gray and Richard Hawley, and for his soulful and intimate albums, the seventh of which – The Living Kind – is due for release later this year.
Then on Thursday 16 October, former Kasabian frontman turned solo artist Tom Meighan will be performing at the Royal Yacht Drift Bar.
The singer-songwriter – who parted ways with Kasabian in 2000 – last year performed his “RAW” acoustic shows to over 20,000 people in 70 grassroots venues across the UK and Ireland, with Meighan performing both Kasabian classics and solo material, and all backed by nothing more than two guitars and a stomp-box.
Discussing his solo albums – The Reckoning (2023) and Roadrunner (2025) – earlier this year, Meighan told the JEP: “I’d say the solo stuff is more in-depth, it’s more intimate than what I did with Kasabian.
“It’s about the things that I’ve experienced personally and the things that I’ve been through in recent years. The first album was almost like a diary, the songs were about where I was, emotionally, at that particular time, in that place, in that moment. With the second album, I just had a bit of fun.
“When it comes to music, I’m not interested in f***ing 20-minute tracks. I’m more into old-fashioned rock ‘n’ roll. I’d rather write a three-minute banger, do you know what I mean? No thrills, no spills. Just in and out.
“Writing a great two- or three-minute song is the hardest thing. That right there is the challenge, man.”
The RAW acoustic shows have thus far been met with much enthusiasm by both hardcore fans and newcomers alike, with Meighan mixing punk-rock and urban-folk with terrace-style chants.
“The transition from Kasabian to solo artist was very difficult,” he told the JEP. “I really struggled for the first few years. I was kind of isolated, what with Covid lockdown and what had happened in my life, and suddenly I didn’t have the band to bounce off. We were always a band and we would bounce ideas off one another – and suddenly that was gone. We’d been through all kinds of things together, do you know what I mean? And so I found it really difficult, man. I’ve not spoken to any of them since the break-up, or whatever you want to call it. But I’ve done a lot of soul-searching and I feel I’ve finally come out of my skin. It is what it is.
“We started Kasabian in 1997. I’d been in the band 23 years when I left, which is flipping insane. That is a long time. We didn’t get a record deal until five years after we’d formed. We were playing and gigging together for half a decade before we got signed. Some people give up, but we didn’t – and the rest is history.”
On Saturday 1 November, Simon & Oscar – The Songs of Ocean Colour Scene will take place at the Jersey Opera House.
Formed in the West Midlands in 1989, Ocean Colour Scene – singer-guitarist Simon Fowler, lead guitarist Steve Cradock, bassist Damon Minchella and drummer Oscar Harrison – first found fame at the height of Britpop, with the soul-inflected 1960s-style rock of their second album, Moseley Shoals, chiming perfectly with the nostalgia-driven times.
And next month will see two members of the band – Simon and Oscar – performing stripped-back renditions of the group’s best-loved hits on the Opera House stage.
Discussing their acoustic shows, Birmingham-born Simon told the JEP: “It’s a real tonic – a great chance to look the audience in the eye and interact with them on a more personal basis than ever before.”
Discussing the stereotype of Ocean Colour Scene as a “Britpop dadrock band”, Simon said: “It doesn’t bother me being associated with that era at all. I think Britpop was probably more defined by Blur, and we were more in the Oasis and Paul [Weller] camp, although we dressed the part at the time.
“Personally, I always thought of us as more of a folk-rock band than a Britpop band, but I don’t mind if anyone thinks otherwise.
“Britpop was certainly an exciting time. It was as much fun and as much madness as you can imagine. I don’t think we went to bed for about six years – or at least that’s what it felt like.
“When we were making hit records in the 1990s, you toured in order to sell a record, but it strikes me that it’s now the other way round: you make a record so that you can tour because that’s the only way to make any money. I really can’t see how it would be easy to set up a band these days. I think that is possibly why, over the last ten years, solo artists seem to have done well rather than bands. Because it’s cheaper to do it. How the hell would you take a band with four or five members out on the road? Say what you like about him, but Ed Sheeran has got it right: cheap acoustic guitar and a loop pedal – that’s it. Cue five nights at Wembley.”
Discussing Simon and Oscar’s forthcoming Opera House set, Paul Sharkey of Island Music said: “As a lifelong fan of Ocean Colour Scene, it’s an absolute honour to be promoting another show with Simon and Oscar. But more than that, I’m incredibly proud to be working with Jersey Opera House to usher in a new era for live music in Jersey.
“The Island has been crying out for a venue of this calibre, and with the Opera House back in action, we can finally bring top-tier talent to this beautiful venue. This is just the beginning, and we can’t wait to build on this partner in the years to come.”
The final gig on the current Island Music Presents roster will be Justin Hawkins Rides Again… Again.
Held at the Freedom Centre on Saturday 10 January, the performance will see the former Darkness frontman building upon the success of his hugely popular YouTube channel (600,000 subscribers and counting) with a show in which the effortlessly charismatic “icon, superstar, legend and hero” will discuss the machinations of the modern-day music scene with his customary encyclopaedic knowledge of the music industry.
* For more details on the above events, or to book tickets, visit eventbrite.co.uk. Tickets are also available from Island Music, 72 Broad Street, St Helier.
Former Kasabian and Darkness stars heading to Jersey
