Every now and then you see a band that is enjoyable for no clear reason other than the music is great and the members look like they’re having a great time. This was certainly the case for Brighton’s Sick Joy last night, who opened up for Pagan at The Flapper in Birmingham. Certainly, drawing similarities […]

Arriving into the venue to see Hollywood Undead tonight I noticed how busy it already was half an hour after doors; it’s great to see people coming out early to check out the highly regarded support band from Liverpool ‘Loathe‘.  Loathe have supported some big names in the metal world since forming in 2015 such […]

The unpredictable, yet always charming Papa Roach take over O2 Academy Birmingham again, touring in support of their 10th studio album released earlier this year. Title track ‘Who Do You Trust,’ together with ‘Renegade Music’ and ‘Not The Only One’ teased what turned out to be an unexpected album, presenting a fresh mix of weirdly enthusiastic […]

Much-loved Scottish alt-rockers Idlewild have shown many different faces over the course of their career, from their early punk beginnings to the REM-inspired rock of their commercial peak and on to the folkier sounds that permeate through their later material. With new album ‘Interview Music’ one of their most diverse offerings to date, which side […]

Hailed as one of the UK’s leading songwriters thanks largely to his time as frontman of The Verve and their all-time classic album ‘Urban Hymns’, Richard Ashcroft returns to Birmingham tonight armed with his fifth album under his own name, ‘Natural Rebel’, yet largely ignores it in favour of a crowd-pleasing set heavy on singles […]

In celebration of 40 years since Coventry legends The Specials founded the 2-Tone genre by splicing Jamaican ska with British new wave, the band are back in the West Midlands as part of an extensive tour following the release of their chart-topping comeback album ‘Encore’ last year. Having gone through a number of line-up changes […]

I have been fortunate enough over the last 18 months to have seen The Blinders play four times including tonight, at four different venues; each venue on each tour twice the size as the preceding one.  This has taken over a couple of years to achieve, so not a meteoric rise, but it has been […]

It was a year ago when Stourbridge brought their love to Birmingham in the form of The Wonder Stuff and Ned’s Atomic Dustbin whereas tonight’s line up is Neds plus Pop Will Eat Itself  (PWEI) with one night already under their belts.  Ned’s Atomic Dustbin arrive on stage to Jupiter by Gustav Holst to provide […]

On arriving it was nice to see from the beginning there was a large audience already at the venue to welcome indie rock band Novacub who were first on stage.  Fronted by Bloc Party drummer Louise Bartle and completed by fellow Bloc Party member and guitarist Russell Lissack, Iona Thomas (Bass) and Tony Alda (drums). […]

The sun was shining on Wednesday evening as opening the show at O2 Institute in Birmingham were Alfie Templeman and Whenyoung, both of which provided catchy and entertaining music to welcome the growing crowd ahead of Sundara Karma taking to the stage. Touring in support of their recently released second album ‘Ulfias Alphabet’, Sundara Karma […]