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I got the chance to chat with Alan Day from Four Year Strong before their sell-out show at the HMV Institute, we talked about the new album, touring and the fact that he’s not ashamed for people to know he loves Coldplay! |
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Tonight’s show is sold-out, no surprise really when the line-up consists of Four Year Strong, pop-punk heroes A Loss For Words and Don Bronco. On arrival to the venue I have a no crowd surfing flyer unceremoniously shoved into my hand and wondered if anyone would actually take any notice of it. |
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To another refined gig at the wonderful Symphony Hall - a celebration of the recordings from 35 years ago - so for the third time in less than a week I’m transported to ’76, tonight it’s to Peter Frampton showcasing ‘The Frampton Comes Alive’ 35th Anniversary Tour. |
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Winter has truly got underway in Birmingham and promoters Moseley Folk present their monthly night The Lunar Society that brings singer songwriters to the cosy candlelit second room of the Hare and Hounds. |
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Retro-reverb, Rockabilly surf riders, The Frenzies, have an exotically named guitarist/vocals, Daz Dolczech, oozing kitsch Stratocaster cool and sporting a flat-topped haircut clipped with military precision. |
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A bright-eyed, and all together reinvigorated, vocally bushy-tailed Simon ‘Foxy’ Fowler (Ocean Colour Scene) brought to St. Paul’s Gallery, Jewellery Quarter, a consecutive two-night showcase of semi-acoustic new material performed alongside musicians/vocal/ harmonies, The Merrymouths. |
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John Foxx is now known as the man who started Ultravox in 1974, way before the early 80’s chart successes enjoyed by the band’s later incarnation. By 1979, Ultravox! (with or without exclamation mark) had released 3 critically acclaimed albums (a major influence on a subsequent generation of electronic musicians) on the Island record label, but not received the chart success the label required, so were dropped by Island. |
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A very brief three song opening set from boy/girl guitar/synths duo Hearts. Very much beat driven with desaturated, austere guitar and spacey jingling keyboards complimented by echo-soaked falsetto vocals. Shame it was so short but their accomplished musicianship was beyond question. |
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There was a certain amount of déjà vu about tonight’s Fleet Foxes gig. It was almost two years to day that I was at the Civic Hall in Wolverhampton to review the Fleet Foxes for the first time. That evening was memorable for more than one reason and still ranks as one of my favourite gigs of all time. |
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“Last train to Rowley Regis” There is this friend of mine called John. He is very passionate about his music and travels all over the country via the cheapest means possible, criss-crossing the land trying to cram in as much as he can. He has a network of friends who look after him and you can never be sure when he will turn up next. You are probably wondering what I'm going on about and what this has to do with the review. The point is that as was announced by Kip Berman from the stage my mate John “has been to more Pains.... gigs in the UK than anyone else”!. |
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There are 500 people in the audience, according to one of the stewards. Not absolutely full, but enough to pretty much fill up the downstairs and the bottom part of the upstairs rows. After a few announcements forbidding photographs, Fatoumata Diawara comes onto the stage. She's stunningly lovely with a striped turban. No backing musicians, just Fatou and a guitar. |
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Brum based, Electro-Popsters, The Light Cascades (delicious name) have an unashamedly, endearing, retro 80s jingly, jangle girl/boy harmony vocal synth-pop driven innocence that draws on a flamboyant celebration of influences such as The Stone Roses, Human League and The Cure. Singer, Tom Alexander’s voice certainly has more than a reminiscence of Robert Smith’s aching vulnerability, no more so demonstrated with their closing cover of ‘Pictures of You’ which I suggest they avoid because they certainly don’t need the drag of being labeled a tribute band.) |
