|
This time last year Ellie Goulding was virtually unheard of. Then suddenly in the space of a few short months Ellie made an appearance on Jools Holland, released her first EP, won BBC’s ‘Sound Of 2010’ award, bagged herself a Brit award. Has written for Diana Vickers and Gabriella Cilmi. Had remixes of her own tracks released too much acclaim. At 24 years old Ellie Goulding understandably has a huge amount of hype attached to her name. |
|
I arrived to catch the last couple of tracks from hardcore/death metal/grind outfit Oceano, who hail from the city of Chicago, Illnois, USA. The Academy 2 is already full to the rafters so that I have to shuffle through the crowds to get a good view. It's pretty easy to see these guys though as they are charged full of energy and pogoing around... |
|
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. |
|
Hexes start off the night in the cozy academy 2 venue, the British four piece kick it off with an overall explosive sound which is heavily influenced by bands like the Gallows and Alexisonfire... |
|
I very nearly had a heart attack when I was told at the last minute that there were seven bands on the bill tonight – dependant on how you looked at it, this was either going to be a-few-bands-too-many overkill or an extremely excellent value for money gig. One thing was for sure the Thrash and Burn UK Tour 2009 promised to be a grindcore, deathcore, mathcore, melodic death metal, metalcore (and enter any other genre you feel appropriate here) extravaganza. |
|
Opening the show were The Defiles, with a thrash pace and sound that was not really in keeping with tonight’s gothic/industrial theme. They had a dark look and some big hair that made them quite interesting, however technical difficulties early on and too much reverberation on the guitars marred their performance. I felt that there was a lack of imagination with this band as each song sounded similar, but varying paces and combining melodic vocals with screaming made it a little less mundane... |
|
Hundred Reasons at The Academy? It’s 2003 all over again! Up first for me tonight was Birmingham’s very own Johnny Foreigner, and there was a fair amount of local support in the crowd for them, including a few mums and dads... |
|
Wales has long been associated with producing the cream of the hip-hop elite. Snoop, Fiddy, Dre... well, maybe not. But what it has produced is Goldie Lookin Chain and tonight they've descended upon Birmingham's Academy 2 ahead of releasing their charmingly-titled ASBO 4 LIFE album to make some noise... |
|
Although there were tickets still available on the door, the venue seems pretty packed. The Academy 2 is in it’s larger configuration, with the side wall open, allowing punters to spill out on to the balcony of the main venue and peruse the merch stall in comfort... |
|
The Academy may have been rebranded from Carling to O2 but fear not, as they haven't changed the carpets. Or any of the signs. The crowd sticking to the carpets tonightare largely bedecked in check shirts and hair products, and the room is packed by the end of the first set. My Emergency get the room moving with their energetic pop-punk and exit the stage on a strong note and shoutalong... |
