Dan Croll at Bodega

Super slick Croll brings a slice of summer to Nottingham


Let’s just clear something up before we get started: Dan Croll is fucking cool.

From the edgy glasses, to the casual way he discusses his professional rugby career  (“I played full-back for the Midlands county team until I snapped my leg in two.” Don’t worry Dan, we know all about elite talent being mercilessly cut down in its prime), Croll is the sort of effortless cool The Tab could never be.

The Tab really needs to step up its ironing efforts

Just as cool as the man himself, Croll’s eclectic mix of indie-pop went down a treat in front of a sold-out Bodega crowd.

After a bit of a slow start, Croll and his band of ‘travellers’ (as the man himself eloquently put it) began to showcase their talents with singles Compliment Your Soul and In/Out.

Masters of photography

Played back-to-back, Compliment Your Soul’s steel drums and general Afrobeat influences contrasted heavily against the synth-driven In/Out, exhibiting Croll’s diverse catalogue of tunes.

A former mentee of Sir Paul McCartney, Croll remembers the Beatles legend saying ‘groovy’ a lot – a word that can certainly be applied to track Thinking Aboutchu.

Our boy Dan at BBC Radio Nottingham before the gig. Instagram @dancrollmusic

Croll is touring in support of his recently released album Sweet Disarray, and while a few of his tracks sometimes need a little less ‘sweet’ and a bit more ‘disarray’, he saved the best for last with quirky sing-along Home and popular single From Nowhere.

Lyrics like “If you ever come round to my house, take your shoes off at the door/’Cos it’s impolite not to, you’ll be damaging my floor” in Home show off the more eccentric side to Croll, but From Nowhere’s balmy electric-folk beat seals the deal: Dan Croll is well cool.