Example + Wretch 32 + Neon Hitch @ Birmingham Academy, 6th March 2011
The queue for tonight’s show is unbelievable, reaching far out of sight of the entrance, and with so many young fans wearing very little it was understandable that people were desperate to get out of the cold.
Once inside there is time to catch the very end of Neon Hitch‘s set. There’s a lot of people on stage, and lots of fancy costumes, but it was difficult to see any correlation between what the band are doing, and what’s coming out of the speakers. The music is a very poppy form of dance/dubstep, done with the new-rave style from a few years ago. It’s only possible to figure out the lead singer when she is carried back on stage to squeak her thanks to the crowd.
A Dj fills the gaps between the bands, and he gets a better reaction than Neon Hitch as soon as he plays his first tune. There’s no fancy turntablism, but he lays down chart hit after chart hit, and this crowd lap it up.
Wretch 32 is on next, with a live set-up of keys and two drumkits and the rapper himself. The rapping is impressive, but the lyrical content is seriously lacking in any depth, seemingly aimed at the young audience of this crowd he seems to be obsessed with girls dancing and getting drunk.
Again, it’s hard to see why the band are there, the two drumkits are either played so well it sounds like one, or more likely, one or both of them are miming. The keyboard player does seem to playing his parts at least, but with so many samples and additional sounds being heard, it’s obvious there’s a backing track especially when backing vocals start appearing from nowhere. Why they don’t have a DJ as well is just confusing, and when The Streets performed live so well a couple weeks ago, it puts this group to shame. The song Tracktor goes down well though, with the crowd really getting into the party vibe, jumping all over the place. Wretch 3 2 does have great stage presence, and does a great job of getting the audience into his dancey hip-hop.
Again the DJ fills the gaps, and as the alcohol has been flowing (even for the underage ones) most of the room is dancing. The crowd explodes when Example hits the stage, a impressive wall of noise that drowns out the intro song completely. He launches into his first song, taking good command of the stage, and really getting the crowd hyped up. It’s very much pop/dance music, having gone more commercial since his early years. Playing mostly songs from his latest album, but missing out some old classics – ‘You Can’t Rap’ is notably absent.
Calling out for all the hooligans/lunatics in the crowd between each song, Example really controls his audience, screaming just when he wants, and bouncing through each song with seemingly unlimited energy. It’s good to see that he is an excellent vocalist, his lyrics are clear even at the back of the room and not a wrong note is hit all night. Again his backing back seem a little un-even, and there’s certainly plenty more coming out than being played, but this is not an issue to the majority.
Example plays quite a short set, but makes up for this with a longer encore, including a song featuring Wretch 32, which is due to be released as a single soon. The rest of the encore is made up of the songs and singles he hasn’t yet played, leaving the audience on a true high. As he gets into the last song, he welcomes Ibiza, claiming this is no longer Birmingham. The music reflects this as well, entering the realms of clubland house to end the set. While it was an impressive set overall, it was a little disappointing to see such a move away from hip-hop.
Review – Ben Duff
Photos – Ross Metcalfe