Nick Cope
Leicester Square Theatre 23rd June 2024
One of the many joys of having a child later in life is being better equipped to share their joy. As a young and stupid 20 year old I was too conflicted, too unsure of myself and my situation, too naïve to really appreciate the life I found myself in. Carrying with me a little grey cloud of what ifs? Now as a 58 year old with a three and a half year old son I can revel in his wonder. Enjoy the moments. More mature and more aware with more certainty. Basking under a rainbow of contentment.
One of the many wonders we share are the songs and stories of Nick Cope once of the Candyskins which I think can be filed under 90s Oxford Shoegaze. Nick is now a 21st Century Bernard Cribbens entertaining thousands of children and their parents on CBeebies with his Popcast. So it was that I found myself at the Leicester Square Theatre this afternoon to bask in the communal glow of my sons first live gig.
The family audience were in high spirits as Nick took to the stage kicking off with the reggae inspired Bobble Hat which is this dad's favourite reminding him of Musical Youth. Nick's self deprecating gentle humour shining through setting the scene for what was to follow. Songs about burping Dinosaurs, Vampires with a social conscience focused on town planning. An absolute tear jerker about a jay walking hedgehog called Hugh. We all hold our breath for the duration. A song I'd not heard before about performing nits and a girl called Nicola. One for the grown ups (they're all for the grown ups really) as the Stone from There's A Stone In My Shoe turns out to be Mick Jagger.
Then all the hits come in a cacophonous extended finale. The younger members of the audience who were struggling to stay as focused as their giddy parents suddenly became lost again in Nick's magical make believe world. A Kraftwerk inspired robot called Ralph (I can't believe it's not Hutter), a deer that identifies as a unicorn and a riotous The Baby's Done A Poo. We all danced our socks of to the lizard song and the finale a giant wiggle off. A meet and greet followed and a Nick Cope t shirt was purchased. My son exclaimed later “I can't believe I saw Nick in the real world”. To be honest neither can I. A great afternoon was had by all.
Underpinning Nick's ability to hold an audience in the palm of his hand is the fact that these are proper songs expertly played. Put some adult lyrics to them and you have Crowded House or Del Amitri or Jake Thackeray or indeed Musical Youth. His guitar work is exemplary hopefully inspiring his legion of young fans to take it up.
I left one song out of the set. The Cloud Song which is the most inclusive, perfect, heart warming, inspiring, template for how we should all live our lives. I wish I could get all radio stations to play it.
If you're a parent, grand parent or just a music fan give Nick's songs a listen you will feel better for it. Right now the world needs as much Nick Cope as it can get. I mean, why do you want to live under a little grey cloud when you can live under a rainbow? Thank you Nick.
If you want to know more here’s something I wrote about Nick's career from The Candyskins to CBeebies.