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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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It seems like Shawn 'Clown from Slipknot' Crahan is trying to make a statement with his new band, Dirty Little Rabbits. The statement is that he can exist outside of Slipknot's metal confines and create a psychedelic alternative rock band. I understand and applaud the attempt to do something different but it really doesn't work. |
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This being my first time at the new, improved, and moved-over-the-other-friggin’-side-of-town Academy, I was looking forward to experiencing what this revamped venue had to offer. First impressions were favourable, with a much brighter and distinguished atmosphere in this room, certainly when compared to its Academy 2 predecessor. |
