Music review: Banbury band Cold Blue Daze live at The Coach and Horses

Highly regarded local band Cold Blue Daze made their debut at The Coach and Horses in Butchers Row, Banbury, ready to deliver their brand of rock, pop and indie covers to an expectant audience at one of the town’s premier pub venues.

With soundchecks completed, the band kicked off the first set with Bon Jovi’s ‘You Give Love a Bad Name’, setting the bar high and engaging the crowd from the start.

The pop-punk and alternative rock element was prevalent throughout the evening, with early appearances from classics including Blink-182’s ‘All the Small Things’ and Bowling for Soup’s ‘Girl All the Bad Guys Want’.

A return to the mainstream came with Queen’s ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’ and ‘I Want to Break Free’, and the band were truly settling into their stride.

There were surprise inclusions, too, with a Foo Fighters-style version of Rick Astley’s ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’ bringing a smile and a hint of 80s nostalgia.

It was anthems all the way to the interval, featuring the Wheatus standard ‘Teenage Dirtbag’, Stevie Wonder’s funk-rock masterpiece ‘Superstition’ and the Kings of Leon powerhouse ‘Sex on Fire’, which closed a confident and energetic opening set.

Glasses charged, the waiting Coach faithful and the warmed-up band, clearly enjoying themselves, pressed play and set two arrived with another unexpected twist: a bombastic take on the ABBA crowd-pleaser ‘Mamma Mia’, an inspired starter.

It just kept climbing as the anthems kept coming, with ‘Dakota’, ‘Chelsea Dagger’ and The Proclaimers’ stomping ‘500 Miles’ among many others.

A rousing ‘Sweet Caroline’ attempted to close set two, although everyone in the building knew it wasn’t the end by any means.

Deafening cheers resulted in an inevitable return, with possibly the highlight of the set, The Killers’ brilliant behemoth ‘Mr Brightside’. The roof was suitably raised and voices were appropriately hoarse.

The encores continued with a requested version of Black Sabbath’s ‘Paranoid’, prompting the inevitable head-shaking – a joy and a worry in some cases – from the crowd.

Proceedings finally came to a close in the heavier rock domain with a searing version of ‘Highway to Hell’.

It was a triumphant premiere at The Coach for a great local band, featuring Paul Procter on vocals, Simon Young on guitar, Tim Barker on bass and Dave Smith on drums.

Now performing further afield and doing what they love to do, the band are supported by manager Rhona Cresswell.

The crowd drank it in all night and didn’t want it to stop. That’s what good music does when it’s delivered with passion.

It couldn’t have been more enjoyable had the original artists themselves been on stage.

Just ask anyone who was there.