The last time I saw this line up of COC was Saturday 26th August 1995 at Donington Park. Could they equal that performance? SoT had to get down and Southern in the East Midlands to find out.

It's Monday night and the venue is packed which is a great omen for this gig. I've always said that COC have been like a bland steak in recent years, it's needed some Pepper! Welcoming the man himself back to the fold, Pepper Keenan looks more than comfortable fronting the 'Deliverance' line up of the band. From the strike of the first chords this Nottingham crowd embrace the Southern Sludge that COC are known for delivering. Woody Weatherman is producing some monolithic slabs of solid, six string fury, his partner however is experiencing some slight technical difficulties but the crowd just don't care as 'King Of The Rotten' pulsates through the air. This really is highlighting what a solid band COC really are, whilst we get 'Heavens Not Overflowing', 'Wiseblood' and the astounding slow build of '13 Angels' the crowd genuinely take over the chorus much to the bands delight. A pit erupts into a mass of bodies for 'Albertross', its brutally detuned weight making the walls of the Rescue Rooms shake into life. As the band leaves the stage the noise from the floor demands the band to come back, 'Broken Man', 'Vote With A Bullet' and finishing with 'Clean My Wounds' sees a very happy Monday night Rescue Rooms filter into the night air. With rumours rife that the band will again record with Pepper one can but hope that this come to fruition, as the shows progress I'm sure that COC will once again become the well-oiled machine we all know and love.