Mar 12

Frightened Rabbit & Airship @ Birmingham Academy 2, 12th March 2010

Frightened Rabbit The fact that Frightened Rabbit are an indie band from Scotland instantly means they have a lot to live up to. The country that gave the world deep fried mars bars and bagpipes has made up for this tenfold by producing some of the most important indie bands of all time. From the 80’s to the present day through The Jesus & Mary Chain, Mogwai, Belle & Sebastian, Teenage Fanclub, Idlewild to name just a few, it’s a rich musical history that the five piece from Selkirk have to follow.


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Mar 06

Mumford & Sons + Fanfarlo + Andrew Davie @ Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton, 6th March 2010

Mumford & Sons I heard an Interview with Mumford & Sons on the radio the day before embarking on their headline UK tour. There were two comments that struck a chord with me whilst listening; Neither Marcus, Winston, Ben or Ted came across as having a single serious bone in their bodies. Banter and honest joviality were the order of the day. The second related to the forth-coming tour. The name of one particular stop was singled out as being one they were really looking forward to playing as “the city has a lot of heart”. That city was Wolverhampton.


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Mar 05

The XX @ Birmingham Academy 2, 5th March 2010

The XX The XX have been much hyped over the past 12-18 months by all the music press and tonight Academy 2 is ram packed with only a few spaces left before the exit door at the rear of this large room. The other reason is their beautifully crafted CD having done well in the charts thanks to songs like “Crystalised”,”VCR” and “Heart Skipped a Beat”.


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Mar 03

Courtney Pine CBE + Omar Puente @Town Hall, Birmingham, 3rd March 2010

Courtney Pine Jazz is not my usual cup of tea. I’m more of a rock and metal fan, but having been introduced to Courtney Pine in the mid-90s, it would have been rude not to see him in the amazing setting of Birmingham Town Hall.


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Mar 02

Heaven 17 @ The Assembly, Leamington Spa, 2nd March 2010

"No-one was supposed to turn up for this one!"


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Feb 22

Owl City + The Elements @ Birmingham Academy, 22nd February 2010

Owl City This could all have easily ended up massively confusing, most probably very off putting and more than likely end in a night to remember for all the wrong reasons.


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Feb 20

Jim Moray with Nick Cooke + Cole Stacey with Terry Stacey @ Red Lion Folk Club, Kings Heath, 20th February 2010

Jim Moray with Nick Cooke It's been a few years since I heard Jim Moray live so I'm really looking forward to this evening. Jim Moray, of course, is the singer who burst on to the folk scene back in 2003 with his debut album, Sweet England winning the BBC2 Horizon award for most prestigious album of the year and winning him the accolade of best newcomer.


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Feb 17

Fear Factory @ Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton, 17th February 2010

Fear Factory Having heard from a friend of mine that Fear Factory had just released a new album, 'Mechanize', my interest was piqued. When I also found out that original guitarist Dino Cazares had rejoined the band I decided I really couldn't miss this one!


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Feb 16

Midlake @ Birmingham Town Hall, 16th February 2010

Midlake This review is likely to be quite biased! I hold my hands up to being a big fan of Texan indie/folk rockers, Midlake but I’ll try to be to be as constructive as I can. Tonight’s gig at the Town Hall in Birmingham is part of Midlake’s tour in promotion of their third album, ‘The Courage of Others’. The album is their first in four years after their breakthrough release, ‘The Trials of Van Occupanther’ in 2006.


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Feb 11

NME Tour with The Maccabees + Bombay Bicycle Club + The Big Pink + The Drums @ Birmingham Academy, 11th February 2010

The Maccabees My thoughts leading up to tonight’s NME Tour gig were mainly, ‘the audience is going to be young!’ And indeed they were. Well mostly anyway. To be fair, there was a decent number of older, more experienced gig goers huddled together in the sensible viewing areas i.e. the ones where you’re less likely to be either a) hit in the head by flying drink container or b) hit in face by a pogo-ing teenager’s elbow.


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Feb 09

Cobra Starship @ Slade Rooms, Wolverhampton, 9th February 2010

Cobra Starship Playing Wolverhampton’s Slade rooms as part of their ‘Hot Mess across the Eu-Niverse’ tour to promote their third album, New York’s Cobra Starship have created a bit of a stir amongst the UK’s Gossip Girl generation. By the time the band finally took to the stage, the crowd had whipped themselves up into a frenzy, the girls chanting and singing and the boys play-fighting and running around at the back like kids at a family disco.


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Feb 07

Judy Collins + Kenny White @ Birmingham Town Hall, 7th February 2010

Judy Collins The first surprise of the evening was the size of the audience. Having seen a number of excellent folk artists singing to less than capacity crowds over the last few years, it was good to see that Judy Collins had sold out the ground floor of the Birmingham Town Hall and a substantial part of the balcony. The second surprise was the voice. Collins is now 70, and has been singing in public since the early 1950s. Her voice is virtually the same as it was in the 1960s -- a clear haunting soprano.


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