Sonic Boom Six @ Birmingham Academy 2 – 9th October 2009

Feeling quite excited as I’m driving to the gig, tonight will be the first time I see the new Academy and whether it will live up to the hype and the expectation of how good the old venue was.

After a slight problem with passes we managed to see the end of the first support band, Resolution 242, who were fronted by a young blonde female which seemed rather reminiscent of Sonic Boom Six at the start of their career but without the ‘umph’. Although the songs were in tune and had a nice tune there was nothing special about this band. Perhaps in a few years once they have found their unique style they will be a band to talk about.

The next band on of the night was The Skints, another female fronted band from London. Having seen them before when they toured with Farse, I had an idea of their sound but they surpassed my expectations! It’s very rare to see a girl with as much talent as she has, playing just about every instrument you can think of and a good singer too. Not only was she an amazing person but also the rest of the band didn’t let her down either. The drummer being a singer certainly showed amazing talent. Although the guitarist didn’t do anything special, his vocals certainly made up for it. Not to leave the bass player out, he was very much a showman with the skills to back it up. Little did anyone notice that the lead singer of Sonic boom Six, Laila was standing on her own at the back of the crowd watching The Skints! By the end of the set the ever growing crowd was geared up for the ever closer arrival of Sonic Boom Six. The Skints ended their last song triumphantly, winning over the crowd and now it was just a matter of time until the headline act made an appearance on stage.

Coming on by one on stage, Laila is the last to arrive and is greeted with a huge cheer from the crowd and, as per usual, has an awe about her that makes everyone in the audience transfixed by her star quality. Wearing what one could say is a boy’s outfit she still shows great sexiness about her and the boys in the crowd are certainly pleased. Kicking off their set they have already got the crowd involved and singing along and everyone knows it’s going to be a good night.

As the set progresses more and more people arrive apparently ready for the club night afterwards but most people seem to enjoy the show and happily join the main crowd. We also learn on this night that it will be Ben’s last tour as he is moving on with his life which may mean an end to Sonic Boom Six as we know it, but hopefully they will come through this and bring out more amazing music. Ben’s last tour? He gives an amazing performance on vocals as well as guitar, lyrically content for sure. When Laila and the rest of the band bop it the songs are street-side ska magic. Laila is very unusual in the way she sings and she helps make this band unique. Although Nick and Ben don’t use brass too often, when they do it makes the song even better and the crowd seems to agree. Paul being on bass, his skills are superb with each song they perform having an interesting bass line which helps bring the song together. As they perform their last song everyone is thinking it’s too soon and are hoping for more but due to the curfew it is indeed the end of the gig. The audience leaves having enjoyed the night and hoping for a new tour back in Birmingham soon.

Review & Photos – Shaz R

About Author