|
‘All the world loves lovers. All the world loves (young) lovers in love,’ sang Prefab Sprout. Presumably in anticipation of this charming crowd where everyone is just so damn nice and polite. Born in the UK but living in Australia, Lisa Mitchell has carved a considerable name for herself for one so young (nineteen) with her muse being variously described as ‘Teen Pop/Candy-coated Folk Pop...with a dark heart’. |
|
Approaching the venue (and walking past Lamb Of God bassist John Campbell chilling and catching up with fans), it appeared that most of the near sold out crowd were still waiting to get in, but some nodding, winking and secret handshaking got us into the venue extremely easily. It was cold outside, and it was cold inside the venue as well, but not for long... |
|
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. |
|
Looking forward to another wet cold night in darkest Digbeth can only mean another Capsule show, this numbering three out of ten for their tenth birthday celebrations this month. Boasting a return to Birmingham for perennial favourites and sonic demolition artists Lightning Bolt the lineup was bolstered by two support acts spanning widely varying styles, yet with a shared love of volume. |
|
I should admit straight away that I'm a bit of a Laura Marling fanboy, so critical appreciation of her work isn't easy for me at the best of times. Factor in that this was a performance to a small group of people on the 2nd floor of the Ikon gallery and, realistically, things would have had to have gone horrendously wrong for me not to start heaping on the praise (which they didn't). I'll try for some objectivity though.. |
|
It’s not been long since Black Stone Cherry’s last visit to these shores, but that doesn’t stop the Academy being full of rock fans of all ages tonight. We do love our classic rock here in the Midlands, and with Black Stone Cherry’s retro-fused modern rock appealing to both lads and dads (and girls and mums of course, but that doesn’t rhyme very well) there’s a family-friendly relaxed atmosphere here, no doubt helped by the traditional Saturday night early finish. |
|
The two support acts had the common theme of being solo male artists playing acoustic guitars, neither of which were particularly awe inspiring. Both were competent musicians and songwriters; however, on reflection, I am struggling to recall that much about their music and performance.. |
|
Considering Lenny Kravitz seems to be out of favour with the British music industry at the moment and the price of the tickets seems expensive for the Civic Hall; there is a great turnout for the show. There is nearly an hour’s pause between the support act and the start of Kravitz’s performance, but when the show kicks off, the memory of waiting around is soon wiped. The darkness is lit up with an excessive display of strobes, whilst the audience erupt into cheers and shouts of Lenny. Then, the band launch into Freedom Train, with its pounding introduction, and you can tell, instantly, that Kravitz has collected together a fine ensemble of musicians. The appearance of Lenny Kravitz, sends the crowd into a frenzy, his vocals sounding fantastic and his charismatic presence oozes sexuality and musical prowess. |
|
On entering the not quite sold out Symphony Hall, folk singer Nancy Elizabeth’s soft voice rang out; you could hear a pin drop. The seated audience listened intently as she sang ‘When I was in my prime’ acapella. It was a varied melancholic and dreamy set that consisted of gentle guitar picked accompaniments that gradually built up in volume such as in ‘Lay low’, followed by floating piano pieces that were soft yet dramatic. Nancy Elizabeth ended her very sweet and humbled set with the gentle, relaxing but engrossing ‘Winter Baby’. |
|
Hype has been mounting for months around La Roux; the London duo whose infectious 80’s inspired synth-pop is hotly tipped to be the sound of 2009. With uber-catchy single ‘In for the Kill’ at an impressive number 2 in the singles chart and their highly anticipated debut album due for release at the end of the month, La Roux seem set to be bigger than lead singer Elly Jackson’s gravity defying quiff, so it was with a high level of anticipation that I made my way to see their headline slot on tonight’s NME tour. |
|
I was not named on the guest-list for tonight’s gig, but after a little explanation about BrumLive a wristband was issued. As I got into the Wulfrun already on stage was a trio, not dissimilar to The Crow Man from Worzel Gummidge. They were whipping the crowd up with a sing-a-long sea-shanty song, but as soon as this was done they left the stage. This was Hobo Jones & The Junkyard Dogs, who play what they refer to as “skiffle punk”.. |
|
I like gigs at the Glee Club. It always seems to be an eclectic crowd in there, all of whom are particularly cordial, I’m sure radio 2 would be the preferred stereophonic station if polled and words like ‘twee’ and ‘quaint’ slip seamlessly into conversation. You get the picture. Delightful. And thus it was – amongst a lampshade festooned stage – net curtains and all – that the theatrical A Camp took to the stage. |
