Did you see?: Britpop Night (BBC4)
Wednesday, 17th August 2005
by
Lawrence Poole
MARION, Powder, Salad? Not the latest vegetarian alternative to be added to the Starbucks lunchtime menu, just a clutch of acts that crept into the Britpop huddle all those years ago
(excerpt)
Wener
And it’s always nice to catch a glimpse of the scene's sex symbol-turned children’s author, Louise Wener of Sleeper fame, even though she's now in the middle of a blooming pregnancy.
Mixed in with snippets of the changing political scene at the time (Conservative decline/New Labour’s birth), Harris’ show really did create an intoxicating cocktail of the state of Britain at the time.
A further delve into the archive followed as a repeat of Blur’s prettyboy frontman Damon Albarn comically introducing a bunch of acts he insisted were about to give America a run for their money was aired.
And while Supergrass, Blur themselves and PJ Harvey have certainly stood the test of time, bands like Powder rarely impressed anyone outside of Camden. The spite in not including an Oasis live performance was therefore laughable.
Things quickly picked up with Storyville’s acclaimed Live Forever documentary featuring much of the same footage, but it was worth it to see a now world-weary Damon Albarn and a thoroughly unapologetic Noel Gallagher give their forthright views on their public fallout.
