Tag Archives: Gaz Coombes

Live review: Supergrass at Crystal Palace Bowl 20/8/21

Live reviews, Rock music, , , , , ,

My last big gig before the pandemic hit was Supergrass at Alexandra Palace back in March 2020  and, lo and behold, my first big gig post-lockdown is… Supergrass at Crystal Palace. Last year I had numerous other gigs lined up for 2020 and this year I had several gigs lined up for the earlier part of 2021, too – from the Stranglers to Fairport Convention to Sparks. However, the vagaries of tour cancellations, postponements and seemingly endless rescheduling meant that, once again, it would be Supergrass, who I would have the honour of seeing when I first set foot in front of a large concert stage.

I’m certainly not complaining. Always my favourite band of the Britpop era by a mile, I was rather upset when Supergrass called it a day back in 2010 and was utterly delighted when they announced they would be reforming. It therefore felt suitably poignant to be seeing them, once again, for my re-introduction to live music.

It was also rather poignant to be going to an iconic concert venue that has been out of use for far longer than the start of lockdown. Thanks to the work of the Crystal Palace Trust the natural ampi-theatre of the historic Crystal Palace Bowl has bounced back to life after laying dormant for more than ten years. Branded as part of the ‘South Facing’ series, tonight’s Supergrass concert is one of several major gigs at the park throughout August.

Although the band had jiggled around the order, the setlist wasn’t massively different to a year and a half ago. ‘Seen The Light’, Bad Blood’ and ‘Lose It’ were dropped from the setlist in favour of two extra songs from second album In It for The Money: ‘Tonight’ and ‘Hollow Little Reign’. All the obvious hit singles from the band’s original seventeen-year tenure were there, of course, along with a hefty chunk of their first two albums: I Should Co-Co and In It For The Money, the hyperactive punked-up teen angst of the former blending with the more mellow, melodic musical complexity of the latter.

Photo credit: Ryano de Birderac

The band are on fine form and the crowd are absolutely loving it. One thing that was very apparent to me is that when I saw them at Alexandra Palace back in March 2020 there was a constant sea of mobile phones held aloft as fans strove to document as much of the gig as possible. Tonight, however, it’s hard to pick out more than a tiny handful of mobile phones screens glimmering in the crowd. Admittedly, this is not a long-awaited reunion tour so people may not feel the same compunction to film and snap every part of it but, on the other hand, maybe it’s a case of us all spending far, far too long staring at screens over the past eighteen months and tonight, instead, was all about living for the moment.

Welcome back Supergrass and welcome back into my life…concerts.

https://www.supergrass.com/

Setlist:

I’d Like to Know
Mansize Rooster
Diamond Hoo Ha Man
Mary
Moving
She’s So Loose
Sitting Up Straight
In It for the Money
Tonight
Hollow Little Reign
Going Out
Late in the Day
Richard III
Intermission
(Coffee in the pot)
St. Petersburg
Grace
Alright
Sun Hits the Sky
Lenny
Pumping on Your Stereo
Encore:
Caught by the Fuzz
Strange Ones

Related reviews:

Supergrass Live at Alexandra Palace 2020

Album review – Supergrass ‘Live On Other Planets’

Gaz Coombes at ULU 2018
Gaz Coombes at the Roundhouse 2016
Gaz Coombes – Matador
Vangoffey at the Social 2016

Alt-rock/Britpop: album review – Supergrass ‘Live On Other Planets’

Album reviews, Rock music, , , , ,

A pun on their similarly titled 2002 studio album, Live On Other Planets is a live double album from Supergrass celebrating the band’s long-awaited reunion. Supergrass (and their fans) were incredibly lucky that they were able to complete the majority of their tour (at least the UK and European legs of it) just prior to COVID-19 putting a huge spanner in the works for them and the rest of the music industry. Rather than capturing a single concert the sleeve-notes state the album was recorded at various locations. Moreover, the CD version comes with an additional bonus disc that was recorded at the band’s livestreamed Summer lockdown gig at Oxford’s Bullingdon Arms.

I was at Alexandra Palace back in March for one of the band’s two London dates. Indeed, it was my penultimate live gig before lockdown and this album definitely captures some of the excitement and buzz of those reunion concerts, not to mention pretty much the entire set-list. Beginning with a magnificent ‘In It For The Money’ all the obvious crowd-pleasers are included from across the band six-album career. However, as with the reunion tour there is a big emphasis on songs from the very first album I Should Coco which celebrates its twenty-fifth anniversary this year. Gaz Coombes is in fine voice, there’s a ton of energy coming from all four members and the crowds sound just as enthusiastic as I recall they were at Ally Pally.

All live but with no live audience in the room the third disc, meanwhile, is a like a modern-day version of those old Radio 1 sessions that bands used to do for the BBC in the late 60s and early 70s. “Weird but like a good weird,” as Gaz says. It makes for a lovely bonus disc.

Released on the band’s own Supergrass Records label the album has been mixed by long-time collaborator John Cornfield who worked on the band’s first three albums. All proceeds from the album go to the #SaveOurVenues campaign.

Live On Other Planets is a brilliant memento for anyone who made it to the reunion tour – and if you are still awaiting the rescheduled gigs (including a much-anticipated slot at Glastonbury) it’s a great taste of what’s in store.

Released 27th November 2020

https://www.supergrass.com/

Related reviews:

Supergrass Live at Alexandra Palace 2020

Gaz Coombes at ULU 2018
Gaz Coombes at the Roundhouse 2016
Gaz Coombes – Matador
Vangoffey at the Social 2016

Live review: Supergrass at Alexandra Palace 6/3/20

Live reviews, Rock music, , , , , , , ,

Without a doubt, for me, the greatest band of the Britpop era, I was at the Brixton Academy on the Supergrass farewell tour in 2010 and ten years later I find myself in a state of some excitement for their first of two nights at Alexandra Palace on this long-awaited reunion tour. Given there was no particular acrimony when the band originally broke up, and certainly no Gallagher-style public feuding, in the intervening years I’d long suspected (and certainly hoped) that a reunion would happen at some point.

Formed of members of Gorillaz and The Feeling along with producer and Libertines collaborator, Ed Harcourt, support act Loup Garoux are a supergroup of sorts and their alt-rock take on stoner rock is well-received but I suspect most of tonight’s crowd are still making their way up the hill to Ally Pally while they play their half-hour opening set.

The cavernous Great Hall, however, rapidly fills up for The Coral. An inspired choice by Supergrass, they proceed to deliver a masterclass in making the most of a half-hour support slot with devastating efficiency. Giving the crowd a tour de force of some of their best-loved songs (‘Jacqueline’, ‘In The Morning’ et al) by the time they finish with a glorious, crowd-pleasing ‘Dreaming Of You’ they leave the stage to the sort of thunderous applause that most headline acts would hanker after.

After The Coral’s storming set we don’t have to wait too long for Supergrass, however – and what else would you possibly want to open with on a much publicised and presumably lucrative reunion tour when you’ve written a song called ‘In It For The Money’?

“Gaz has done his neck in and we were advised to cancel these gigs,” drummer Danny Goffey tells the crowd. “But instead we found one of those London rock ‘n’ roll doctors who’s pumped him full of drugs.”

The rock ‘n’ roll doctor clearly knows what they are doing. Gaz Coombes and his band-mates go on to deliver a blistering, joyous and uproarious celebration of the Supergrass legacy.

When I last saw Supergrass, on their 2010 farewell tour, the set-list was carefully constructed with a representative selection from each of their six albums – all presented in reverse chronological order. Tonight, however, the set-list is heavily dominated by songs from their first album, the hyperactive teen insanity of I Should Coco is celebrated in all its glory with a whopping ten songs from this 1995 debut. It makes sense. While it’s ten years since Supergrass originally came to and end, it’s actually twenty-five years since I Should Coco first hit the shelves. And, phew, they include ‘Alright’, too, the crowd going suitably crazy as keyboardist Rob Coombes bangs out the familiar intro of that unforgettable slice of mid 90s pop perfection. I was getting close to 30 by the time this came out and, looking around, I’m about a decade older than most people in the room. So this was not exactly a teen anthem for me but, hey, I’m not too musically snobbish to say it will always be one of my favourites.

Crowd-pleasers from the band’s other albums aren’t neglected though and as well as a good smattering of songs from their second album (‘In It For The Money’, ‘Going Out’, ‘Late in the Day’, ‘Richard III’, ‘Sun Hits the Sky’) there’s still plenty of room for later hits like the introspective ‘Moving’ and the glamtastic ‘Grace’ and, of course, the unmissable ‘Pumping On Your Stereo’ which is the grand finale of the encore.

What do you do a reunion for? In it for the money? Or in it for the adoration? Supergrass probably got a very healthy wodge of the former tonight but they most certainly got a huge room full of the latter as well.

Set-list:

In It for the Money
I’d Like to Know
Mansize Rooster
Mary
Moving
Seen the Light
Time
Sitting Up Straight
Late in the Day
Richard III
Rebel in You
St. Petersburg
Going Out
Lose It
She’s So Loose
Grace
Alright
Sun Hits the Sky
Lenny
Caught by the Fuzz
Strange Ones
Pumping on Your Stereo

supergrass tour

https://www.supergrass.com/

Related reviews:

Album review – Supergrass ‘Live On Other Planets’

Gaz Coombes at ULU 2018
Gaz Coombes at the Roundhouse 2016
Gaz Coombes – Matador
Vangoffey at the Social 2016

Live review: Gaz Coombes at ULU, London 28/2/18

Live reviews, Rock music, , , , , ,

Doing a handful of UK warm-up dates prior to the release of the album ‘World’s Strongest Man’ and a full UK tour in May, I catch up with Gaz Coombes and his band at the old University of London ULU building, now rebranded Student Central.

Stepping out on to a stage so packed out with twinkling retro sound equipment, kitsch standard lamps and vintage keyboards that the uninitiated may have mistaken it for a particularly camp car-boot sale, Coombes is clearly delighted that the crowd have braved the snow and ice to turn out for him.

My fascination with Gaz Coombes began when Supergrass first burst on to the scene in the mid 90s as that cheeky, wacky, slightly zany antidote to Blur and Oasis’s ongoing battle for the crown of Britpop. And since the band’s split in 2010 my fascination has continued as I’ve followed Coombes through his solo career – where he’s just about to release his third album ‘World’s Strongest Man’.

We began to get hints of a more mature, more introspective side to Coombes’ writing with the release of Supergrass’s third album, via tracks like ‘Moving’, and this is very much the path that his solo career has continued along. Coombes has eschewed any temptation to become a one-man Supergrass tribute and, save for the odd rendition from his former band like the aforementioned ‘Moving’, he’s tended to stick resolutely to solo material for his live shows. And, clearly, he’s now getting to the place where he’s got a really strong and growing body of work to draw from. Coombes’ first solo album ‘Here Comes The Bombs’ showed some real promise but was a somewhat austere electronica-influenced affair that took many by surprise. The second, the Mercury prize-nominated ‘Matador’ with its fuller production, beautiful melodies and sensitive song-writing understandably drew considerable praise from many quarters. With Coombes’ third album, however, it may well be that he’s on to something even more special.

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Photo credit: Steve Smith

Tonight’s set-list includes songs from all three albums but, unusually for a live gig promoting any new or soon-to-be-released album, the new songs were amongst the strongest and the most memorable and dare we say it the biggest crowd-pleasers. In terms of highlights tracks from the new album like current single ‘Deep Pockets’ sit really well alongside earlier material from the such as ‘Buffalo’, ‘Hot Fruit’, ‘20/20’ and ‘Matador’. And there’s no risk of austerity in terms of sound on this tour either: we have lush sonic textures on the keys, a captivating rhythm section and a divine-sounding trio of female backing singers supporting Gaz’s unmistakable voice and nifty guitar-playing.

Just as, nearly a quarter of a century ago, Supergrass grabbed my attention because I thought that they were doing something more interesting than either Blur or Oasis at the time, so it seems when it comes to the matter of solo careers, too. I am tempted to conclude that Coombes is doing something more interesting than either Damon Albarn or Noel Gallagher these days and I do think we are going to be in for a real treat when ‘Worlds’ Strongest Man’ is released.

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Photo credit: Tom Rose

http://www.gazcoombes.com/

Related reviews:
Gaz Coombes at the Roundhouse 2016
Gaz Coombes – Matador
Vangoffey at the Social 2016

In praise of fan-led music groups: a Facebook phenomenon

Folk music, Music culture & history, Rock music, , , , ,

From the ongoing controversy over fake news to the vicious nature of many political discussions on social media, Facebook has been facing a fair bit of criticism lately. If it’s not that, so the criticism goes, then it’s just a long series of tedious updates about what people are eating and random pictures of cats. But, somewhere in the middle there are ways in which Facebook is helping build genuine communities of people who share a passion or interest. Obviously, virtually all music acts these days have their own Facebook page where they share information with fans, but what we have also seen is the significant growth in Facebook discussion groups set up by the fans themselves.

Here we take a look at a number of such groups, from those with just a couple of hundred members to those with tens of thousands, and talk to some of the people involved in setting them up, running them or contributing to them.

Fairporters

Over 3,000 strong Fairporters is the group set up for fans of the folk-rock legends Fairport Convention and attendees of the band’s annual three-day festival at Cropredy. Iain, a regular contributor, reflects: “I think this group is pretty unique as we mostly expect to meet up at some point. It’s certainly the friendliest group of this sort that I’m a member of. Maybe this is why we have to behave! I’ve already met up with many of the people on here at Cropredy and other gigs. There are many more people we hope to meet this year and we’ve made friends with bands as well as fans. Bloody marvellous!”

In a number of Facebook groups not only do fans contribute but you will often find past and present members of the bands themselves contributing. Fairporters is no exception and original Fairport Convention singer Judy Dyble is a regular contributor. “It’s a great way to keep those who are interested in my music up-dated in my musical collaborations and events and to let people know when things are happening and about releases of albums or books or err tea towels, and I try very hard not to overload people with continual repetitive updates. They bore me to bits and I’m sure it bores other people! A lot of my private life is just that – private but I don’t mind giving glimpses into how things occur and possibly why.”

You can find the Fairporters group here

1970-92 Rock & Metal Heaven

Not simply based around one band but a genre, the 1970-92 Rock & Metal Heaven group was started up just over two years ago and has grown dramatically. Founder Jeremy recalls, “I originally started the group up just for around 20 mates that I grew up with in the 80s, to reminisce about the good old days. Then within a month we had 1,000 members and within a year we had 20,000. Now 2 years in we have 32,000 members.”

A common feature of a number of the most successful groups is that even if they start of as a purely online concern they can take on a life of their own and become a community in their own right. Jeremy, “We have yearly group meet-ups for charity. The latest was last week. These also include charity auctions with donations from the likes of Thunder, Saxon, Dan Reed, Kruhser and many more.”

You can find the 1970-92 Rock & Metal Heaven group here

Gaz Coombes Fanfare Family

This is a group for fans of former Supergrass lead singer, Gaz Coombes, and his subsequent solo career. Jackie explains how she came to set up the group. “It was after I had noticed a girl on a Gaz Coombes discussion thread asking about who was going to a particular show and having a couple of people approach me about tagging along that I decided to set up the Gaz Coombes Fanfare Family.” That was three years ago. “I love this work and it felt like a good opportunity to set something up for the fans. There has been a few members that have got to know each other and have met up and become friends outside of the social media side of things. We had a couple of members who because of their similar tastes in music had met up and enjoyed a gig by the band Space.”

You can find the Gaz Coombes Fanfare Family group here

Slade

Mark is one of the co-admins of the Slade Facebook group which is dedicated to celebrating well, what else but Slade! The Facebook group has been in existence some ten years now, although Mark wasn’t actually involved in setting up the group but came in to help run it four years ago. He explains, “I was asked to become admin, after being a member for some time, to help keep some order. That is, to help reign in some of the more outlandish stories. I try to point people to verified factual information. Being a member, and admin, is interesting as there are fans from all over the world, and of all ages. It can be hard sometimes to communicate effectively in a written medium. Handling the disappointment of people when some of the long held beliefs are shattered or dispelled with facts.”

Again there are meet-ups and other real-life spin-offs, “Slade fans do get together at conventions. There was also a “Slade sight seeing tour of London” that people attended. I don’t go to conventions myself but others do.”

You can find the Slade group here

Giants of Rock Minehead

While other discussion groups are formed around a certain band or genre some form around an event. Giants of Rock is a three day classic rock and metal festival that takes place at Butlins Minehead each January. Richard, who co-founded the group after the first Giants of Rock Weekend three years ago, takes up the story of how it took off, “After an excellent weekend at Butlins GOR I, Grant and I began talking on Butlins Facebook page. Through this chat, Grant created the group and invited me to co-run it with him. We started it in February 2014 with numerous Facebook friends of mine being made members of the group, just to get the numbers up in the first place. It does bring people together outside of social media,” says Richard, “including a fan from Paris and personally I have met and made many friends through the group, to go to other gigs with. As the group continues to grow more friendships are made. Interestingly I have had people come and say hello and introduce themselves from the group at different gigs in several different locations. The group continues to grow and Grant and myself have been congratulated, which we appreciate . But it is the members who make the group and we thoroughly enjoy watching our community grow and develop. We even had a family group photo taken this year with 100+ members.”

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Photo credit: SD Photography

You can find the Giants of Rock Minehead group here

Gay Metalheads United

Some of the groups are able to bring like-minded people together who may otherwise find it more difficult to meet. From personal experience you would probably have to go to a lot of gay pubs before you met many punters who were into heavy metal. Likewise, in contrast to, say, a Beyonce gig you might not bump into too many gay guys (or gals) at a metal gig. However, lots of gay metal fans do exist out there and Gay Metalheads United, set up four years ago, now boasts over 1,200 members. Early participant, Jay, and one of the group’s admins is proud of the fact it was the first gay metal group on Facebook. His rationale for the group being set up? He says quite simply, “Metalheads are family.” James, a regular contributor to the group, explains, “Social media in general has been a great platform for interacting with people from across the globe at near instantaneous speed. It’s a good way to meet new people with similar likes and opinions, and debate those of opposing viewpoints.” On the Gay Metalheads Group, James says, “It’s liberating. In other metal groups they’re usually filled with heterosexual men, even Judas Priest. It feels like I have to walk on eggshells in some of these groups. So having a group for gay metalheads allows us to let out hair down.”

You can find the Gay Metalheads United Group here

And so…

While there can be a lot of negativity about social media let’s hear it for all of those who help maintain the vast array of music discussion groups out there: the people who set them up, the fans who contribute, the artists who engage directly with those who buy their albums and attend their gigs, and the admins who sometimes step in if things get a little heated. Thank you!

Vangoffey at The Social, London 14/3/16

Live reviews, Rock music, , , , , , , , ,

Few who were following popular music in the mid 90s will forget Supergrass bursting on to the Britpop scene with Alright. But the band were always a multi-faceted animal. And since they split in 2010 lead vocalist, Gaz Coombes, has clearly carried the flame for the more reflective, soulful side of Supergrass into his deservedly well-received solo career. And the loud, spiky more punkish side of the band looks to have been taken on into bass-player Mick Quinn’s post-Supergrass outfit, the DB Band. But what then of the quirky, zany, wacky, britpoppy side of Supergrass? The side of Supergrass that most of us came across first before we were even aware of any other. Well step forward Danny Goffey. The erstwhile Supergrass drummer has re-emerged as the frontman for Vangoffey. And after a short tour in support of their debut album last year, Goffey and the band are back with a handful of dates showcasing their brand of chirpy, humorous indie pop-rock.

The Social is a long, narrow basement bar in London’s west end with a tiny, tiny stage at the far end. Indeed, it’s quite a cram getting Goffey, bass-player Drew McConnell (of Babyshambles), two guitarists and drummer, James Yates, on that stage. The band launch into Trials of a Modern Man, definitely one of the stand-out tracks from the album and probably the one that most closely channels the spirit of the hook-laden, slighly manic but instantly catchy Britpop-era Supergrass. I absolutely love it.

Race of Life – a funked-up Ian Drury-esque tale of the life of a sperm is less my cup of tea but the Ray Davies-esque Alfie Loves the Birds most certainly is. There’s plenty to enjoy here and Goffey is a witty and inventive songwriter who is more than capable of writing some catchy hooks. In this small but crowded venue the band are very well received. After working their way through all ten tracks on the album there are calls for an encore but that’s our lot. “We haven’t got any more songs yet,” explains Goffey.

I still hold out hope for a fully-fledged Supergrass reuinion at some point. But in the meantime it’s nice to see Danny Goffey come out from behind his drum kit and front a band. You wouldn’t want to see every drummer try this. But Danny Goffey pulls it off – the Phil Collins of Britpop…

Setlist
Trials of a Modern Man
Sucker
You, You, You
Alfie Loves The Birds
Race of Life
Beta Man
Episode
The No. 9
Phil’s Dummy
Spilt Milk

http://www.vangoffey.com/

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Gaz Coombes at The Roundhouse 28/1/16

Live reviews, Rock music, , , , ,

If the size and prestige of venues says anything about an artist’s career then Gaz Coombes is on an upward curve. After seeing Coombes perform in some iconic venues in the Supergrass days, smallish (and as they say “more intimate”) club gigs have been the order the day for much of his post-Supergrass career thus far. And while those were great shows it’s nice to see him perform to a capacity crowd in Chalk Farm’s infamous Roundhouse tonight for the first in their current In The Round series.

For the first few numbers it’s just Gaz and his guitar on stage. Some beautifully intimate, stripped-back acoustic versions of Oscillate, Hot Fruit, Needle’s Eye and To The Wire from his two solo albums. Then he is joined, not only by his backing band but a full string ensemble. And the stage just fills with sound for a stunning version of Buffalo, the opening track from his latest solo album – the Mercury Prize-nominated Matador. While there’s evidently a certain degree of continuity with some of the more reflective tracks from later-era Supergrass, Coombes’ writing is maturing and tonight’s packed auditorium (not to mention the Mercury Prize nomination, of course) is a sign of the growing recognition of this. We are presented with lush, beautifully instrumented versions of songs from Here Come The Bombs and Matador. Highlights for me included a heartfelt Detroit, a lovely Girl Who Fell To Earth and a fabulous White Noise, probably one of the most Supergrassy songs of his recent career.

Although Coombes has rigorously avoided becoming a one-man Supergrass tribute act, endlessly churning out the back catalogue, he has often treated audiences to one or two renditions of iconic Supergrass material like Moving or Caught By The Fuzz. We get none of that tonight though. But what we do get is a glorious version of David Bowie’s Five Years. We can’t complain at all. The perfect and fitting encore to a stunning evening.

Setlist:
Oscillate
Hot Fruit
Needles Eye
To The Wire
Buffalo
Sleeping Giant
These Days
Detroit
White Noise
Seven Walls
The Girl Who Fell To Earth
20/20
English Rose
Matador
Five Years

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Previous review: Matador album review

Rock: album review – Gaz Coombes ‘Matador’

Album reviews, Rock music, , , ,

Released in January 2015 I’ve come late to this but I’ve been following Gaz Coombes’ career pretty much since Supergrass burst on the Britpop scene with Alright in the mid 90s. Matador is Coombes’ third album outside Supergrass. The first, a covers album with Danny Goffey, released just before Supergrass called it a day, had the sound and feel of Supergrass in all but name. His next (and first solo album) Here Comes The Bombs, was a starker and more experimental affair, with Krautrock electronica influences clearly present. Matador continues in that vein to some degree but has a more mainstream feel to it. More accessible certainly but altogether a stronger album with stronger tunes.

It’s mature, quality songwriting. It is unmistakably Gaz Coombes, though, and listerners will recognise many of Coombes’ classic trademarks: reflective, sensitively delivered Bolanesque vocals leading up to frenzied, more manic delivery on the hook lines. Opening track Buffalo is a case in point and wouldn’t sound unfamiliar to anyone acquainted with some of the later era, more reflective Supergrass material. Detroit is another beatiful track in the same vein. The Girl Who Fell To earth with some gentle acoustic guitar, lush instrumentation and lovely vocals is another track I instantly warmed to.

This album is proof that the post-Supegrass Gaz Coombes is making a valid contribution to the UK music scene and it’s little wonder it’s been nominated for this year’s Mercury prize. Will I play Matador as much as play I Should Co-Co, In It For The Money or Life On Other Planets? Probably not. Will I play it lots? Absolutely.

Released: January 2015

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