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NIA audiences must have learnt their lessons during the last year, as there is hardly an empty seat when the lights go down at 7:30. No fear of turning up half way through the set, that had infuriated many a gig-goer recently, who had not believed the times on their ticket. |
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Currently touring their 2009 effort Homesick which was recently re-released as a special deluxe edition including acoustic and live versions A Day to Remember hit Birmingham for the first headlining show in over a year the last one being at the 400 capacity Barfly last February. As a band they have come a long way since then. |
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Birmingham Symphony Hall was the venue for tonight's performance of Netwon Faulkner. Warming up the ever Increasing crowd was Charlotte O'Connor from Blackburn and whilst I enjoyed her set I couldn't help thinking that she had studied at the Diana Vickers school of performing arts. |
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The fact that Frightened Rabbit are an indie band from Scotland instantly means they have a lot to live up to. The country that gave the world deep fried mars bars and bagpipes has made up for this tenfold by producing some of the most important indie bands of all time. From the 80’s to the present day through The Jesus & Mary Chain, Mogwai, Belle & Sebastian, Teenage Fanclub, Idlewild to name just a few, it’s a rich musical history that the five piece from Selkirk have to follow. |
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For those of you haven’t been living in a anti-mainstream cave for the last few years, Peter Andre needs little introduction. I want to clear one thing up from the start, nobody went to this gig to be in awe of Mr Andre’s musical wizardry, despite the desire to be regarded as a respected R&B artist. |
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‘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’. |
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Over the past few months, there have been a slew of top-drawer death metal concerts for fans of brutality to really gorge themselves upon, my musings on which can be found elsewhere on the site. This particular evening brought Birmingham one of the daddies of DM, none other than Florida’s Obituary, who in the summer of 1989 unleashed their debut album ‘Slowly We Rot’ upon the emerging DM scene. It won them instant acclaim, with its fetid-sounding Scott Burns production earning it a reputation as one the most ferocious releases of its time. |
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I heard an Interview with Mumford & Sons on the radio the day before embarking on their headline UK tour. There were two comments that struck a chord with me whilst listening; Neither Marcus, Winston, Ben or Ted came across as having a single serious bone in their bodies. Banter and honest joviality were the order of the day. The second related to the forth-coming tour. The name of one particular stop was singled out as being one they were really looking forward to playing as “the city has a lot of heart”. That city was Wolverhampton. |
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Salutations such as, ‘John Betjeman with a guitar...intense virtuosity,’ are not to be dismissed lightly and so first things first I put it to the sound engineer that a set list would come in handy. ‘Too right!’ He replies, sanguinely, ‘Have you got one?’ So, songs referenced are sometimes by context more than title. Welcome to a Nick Harper gig. |
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Stereophonics arrive on stage without the aid of any OTT graphics or over-hyped audio/visual presentations, just four men strolling on stage to a packed crowd at the LG Arena. Even Kelly Jones was without his signature leather jacket and aviators but the gravely-voiced Welshmen promised “a mix of some new, some old, and some really old songs”. I think it was fair to say that the evening was about the music. |
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The XX have been much hyped over the past 12-18 months by all the music press and tonight Academy 2 is ram packed with only a few spaces left before the exit door at the rear of this large room. The other reason is their beautifully crafted CD having done well in the charts thanks to songs like “Crystalised”,”VCR” and “Heart Skipped a Beat”. |
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Political correctness is basically a term for minimising social offense. Thankfully, there’s none here tonight. Stephen Lynch, the King of YouTube musical comedy is in town to sing the kind of songs you laugh at in private, maybe in the pub, but never in polite society. Think of him as the Marilyn Manson of melodic humour. If it’s there to be poked as a subject for human shock value in song form, then it’s fair game, and nobody does it better than Lynch. |
