Dexter + iC1s + The Assist + Paul Beaumont @ The Victoria, 15th November 2014

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Tonight was all about firsts for me. This was my first review in ages, the first time I was shooting as well as reviewing. It was the first time seeing live music at The Victoria, the first time seeing these bands, and it will certainly not be the last.

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First up was local singer/songwriter Paul Beaumont. When there are so many of these guys out there trying to catch a break you hope for something that stands out. This lad could definitely sing and although the room was fairly empty he got the crowd behind him (including the headline act) with covers of Oasis’ – I hope, I think, I know and The Stone Roses – Sally Cinnamon. His own material was fairly good, delivered with passion and I wouldn’t mind seeing him again.

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With the venue starting to pick up a relatively young, local 4-piece, The Assist, took to the stage. For a local support they were decent. The best way I could describe them would be bass driven indie rock. Their influences were hard to pinpoint but there were similarities to early Razorlight on a couple of tracks. They got the heads nodding in the venue, and some of their family members were really going for it. I was hugely impressed with the bass player, and he seemed to be the focal point of the band’s sound.

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By 9pm the venue felt as though it was at capacity, the people were sweating and the temperature was about to be taken up a notch with next band iC1s. If you’ve not heard of this London based band, then I think it’s just going to be a matter of time before you are engrossed with their indie rock sound. When you read press releases you can sometimes be a bit sceptical about the write up, but in this case I would have to agree with the endorsements that they’ve already received.

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This is a band with nothing but attitude and everything you want from an indie band. Lead singer Daniel Coburn delivers an immediate connection with the crowd and ignites a passion that you simply cannot ignore. The band were very tight musically, their set was full of indie club floor-fillers waiting to happen, and their sound just got the whole venue buzzing. Their debut mini album In the Blink of an Eye only dropped on November 3rd so we are relatively new to their music, but it was like their songs were crafted to make you dance whether you knew them or not.

I was so impressed with this band, and although there was a certain swagger about them they seemed very down to earth. The quote of the night had to go to frontman Daniel with “Unless you’re masturbating your hands should be in the air mate”. The band ended on recent single Wack Jack which sent an already ignited crowd into a frenzy. Throughout the set you could see that it was all about forming a connection with the audience they were playing to, and ending with comments like “Thank you Birmingham you’re fucking sexy as hell!” will certainly do that.

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Headline act Dexters are another band to surface fairly recently, but again there is a certain familiarity with their sound and you can just sense big things are on the horizon. Their album Shimmer Gold came out earlier this year and on hearing it you get instantly hooked and I really wanted to see if they could deliver live. They did not disappoint with their blend of punchy hooks and melodies.

They took to the stage a little later than billed with recent single and album opener Cloudfest and the momentum of their set just grew from there. It seemed like they had turned up the heat in the venue whilst Dexters were on stage as the sweat was pouring. For me there were several stand-out moments in the rest of the set, the first of which was Nature of the Beast which I hadn’t heard before. There was almost a sense of community about this gig; the crowd were going nuts and it was like the band wanted us to all be on the same level. In fact, frontman Tom Rowlett actually checked by asking “Are you with us, are we in this thing together?” before launching into new track Borderline. Other really big tracks for the crowd were 2013 single The Hard Way, and title track from the album Shimmer Gold with them clearly knowing the lyrics and singing along at key points.

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The band formed in 2011, but it seems that we are only hearing about them relatively recently off the back of touring with The Courteeners earlier this year. This seems to have pushed them further, and there is a sense of mutual love and respect from the band and their fans. The biggest track of the night was Can’t Sleep; a funky indie tune with similarities to early material from The Twang, sending the crowd wild. The band cites influences from Captain Beefheart to Kasabian on their Facebook page and they certainly have that captivating presence on stage with similarities to the big artists that they mention.

I am convinced that tonight I witnessed two bands that are about to take the current (fairly non-existent) indie rock scene to the next level. Both iC1s and Dexters seem to be able to connect with the crowd in a way that I’ve not seen since the mid-2000s, and if the momentum around them can grow like it did back then, they will not be playing venues this size for much longer.

The gig reminded me of when I saw a relatively new band Arctic Monkeys play the Little Civic and look at what happened there. If you love that classic indie sound then these are two bands that you need to listen to, but to really appreciate their dedication and passion you need to see them live. This was an excellent way to warm up a cold November evening.

iC1s Set List:

Levitate
Not Perfect
T.I. Silence
The Glew
Goosebumps
Armada
Wack Jack

Dexters Set List:

Cloudfest
They’re Blind
Nature of the Beast
Recover
Borderline
Hard Way
Start to Run
Shimmer Gold
Stay Strange
Can’t Sleep
Oceans

Photographs and review – Imran Khan

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1 thought on “Dexter + iC1s + The Assist + Paul Beaumont @ The Victoria, 15th November 2014

  1. Great review of a great night, all the bands put on a top performance! Thanks for the kind words for my set! Have a few more shows before the years end;

    Tuesday 18th Nov – The Yardbird, Birmingham
    Friday 28th Nov – Bull’s Head, Moseley
    Wednesday 3rd Dec – Island Bar, Birmingham
    Friday 12th Dec – Sunflower Lounge, Birmingham

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