Blood Youth @ Mama Roux’s – 7th March 2019
With the smell of nearby Digbeth Dining Club creeping in through the doors, Birmingham based openers Overthrone took to the stage in an already packed Mama Roux’s. For a local support, the band seemed like seasoned professionals and held the attention of all in attendance.
The first of three touring supports, Lotus Eater are the first heavy British band to sign to Hopeless Records in the label’s history. And if the evening’s performance was anything to go by then that’s with good reason. Full of aggression and energy, the band seemed to have the whole crowd in the palm of their hands, making the venue feel instantly more intimate than it is. Intimidating at points perhaps, but also full of groove and certainly entertaining I’ll be sure to catch the band upon their next Birmingham visit.
Next up were seasoned tour veterans in Nottingham’s Palm Reader, who’s hype has perhaps been muted over the past few years however that doesn’t mean to say they’re not still a great live band. Certainly fitting into the aesthetic of the evening, at points the band’s set did lose momentum and become a little tiresome however in terms of intensity and heaviness then it certainly hit the mark.
Blood Youth have certainly had an interesting career up to this point. Coming out of the blocks as a pop punk band for the Slam Dunk crowd, the band evolved throughout their multiple EP’s and two studio albums to find themselves at this point clearly influenced by the 90’s nu metal scene and perhaps the biggest they have been throughout their career. Performing tracks from across their discography, cuts such as ‘Closure’, ‘Starve’ and ‘I Remember’ saw the band seamlessly flitting between heavy breakdowns and sing along choruses in an instant. The energy certainly didn’t dip throughout the 45-minute set, punctuated with interludes showing the band’s sense of production and ambition.
If the nu-metal influence is the route that Blood Youth take from now on, it was clear from the evening’s performance that both aesthetically and musically it could pay dividends. Go and get ‘em lads.
Reviewer: Dan Earl