The Levellers + Envy & Other Sins + supports @ Artsfest, Birmingham – 14th September 2008
Before attending the main stage of Kerrang at Artsfest 2008
, I took a moment to walk around the various other events scattered across the city which included everything from Indian dancers to circus performances, full of family interaction and emphasising the ethnic creativity of Birmingham.
I arrived at the main stage where the action had already begun, I was lucky enough to arrive at the start of The Riptides set. An entertaining performance from the band, with a clear 80’s influence and catchy lyrics throughout. “Lets Dance” got people shuffling, although the crowds seemed to be spread out across the city at this point.
With the audience pumped and ready to jump about some more, on steps Jake Flowers, an acoustic folk artist who has already played in front of a packed Molineaux half time crowd and recently been played on Radio 1 and Kerrang. Armed with guitar and kick drum, Jake sent the crowd plummeting from the catchy 80’s synths to a delicate and gentle silence. Shuffling and whistling turned to silence (if the main stage wasn’t on Broad Street) and we’re left with nothing but Jake’s perfectly suited country/folk vocals when we are treated to a sudden kick drum and repeated lyrics, which seems to kick the life back into the crowd. The closest you’ll ever get to seeing Jack White playing folk music.
All aboard the Artsfest rollercoaster as we get thrown from quiet, meaningful lyrics, to The Fillmore Gears. Within one song, the crowd has multiplied by three as hip thrusting front man, Pete marches onto stage, promising a lively set. Dirty blues and rock and roll had the crowd moving again as the band played “Like A Train”. Taking their set one step further, Pete introduced a local drama group to sign the lyrics to their next song, which was an interesting twist to the set. Certainly one of the most promising, energetic, new rock and roll bands to come out of the home of rock. Following their set, I caught up with front man, Pete, “It’s pretty strange playing at such a large outdoor stage, we saw ourselves on the big screens at the back and kept getting distracted”.
The fun didn’t stop as Kerrang! introduced indie chart topping local lads, Midas, who have just seemed to get it right. Teenage girls (and the occasional boys) filled the front rows of the main stage. The indie/rock/electro mix is a popular choice by many new bands at the moment, often slipping into a total 80’s theme, but by not overusing the synth Midas seem to maintain the rock sound, especially thanks to Kris’s well suited voice which echos shades of Patrick Stump. I received a copy of Midas’s set list at the end of the gig whilst chatting to the frontman, upon returning to the photography pit, I was almost mauled a group of screaming girls (which is great,right?) Yes, until they seem way too grateful that I wasn’t interested in keeping the Midas set list.
As the night reaches the point where the organisers chose not to put any more local bands on, the crowd gathered into their positions for the headliners. The Metros were first of the final bands to play, complete with random costume accessories which include a beer box head mask, head towels and every indie front mans essential prop — a bottle of Grolsh, which he somehow managed to hold onto without finishing for the entire set (most of it ended up on the stage). Although rated as one of biggest new indie bands, it all sounded very much the same as everything else I’ve heard and never seemed to break any boundaries. Regardless of this, they were a certain crowd pleaser, with catchy choruses which mainly consisted of the kind of “wooahs” you only really expect from the drunken yobs at football matches, but with exaggerated London accents. But don’t get me wrong, this bunch are worth watching purely for the entertainment.
Prior to the next band, the stage was filled with odd props straight from my granddads living room, which could only mean one thing — Envy and Other Sins who “are” from Birmingham. Despite a few technical problems, Envy and Other Sins put on a great show worthy of their slot at Artsfest with a great mix of catchy, yet intelligent music, which the day seemed to lack thus far. I managed to get backstage amoungst the other billion photographers that had been allowed in to shoot the event, and managed to get a quick photo of the band (minus the drummer who they said was “lost”).
So Artsfest is about representing Birmingham’s upcoming broad wealth of talent in the arts, so headlining is of course… The Levellers?! Granted, a great band to close the night, but how Kerrang and Birmingham City Council figured that a band from Brighton would be the most entertaining local band to play is still beyond me.
As Kate Lawler stepped up to introduce the band, every middle aged brummy punk crawled out from seemingly nowhere and the crowd suddenly became a sea of mohawks or middle aged men whose wife had let them out for the first time in years. These were mainly noticeable by matching denim jeans and coat, and yellow glasses (?) – their days of the Mohawks seemed to have passed by but that didn’t stop some of the younger folk enjoying the recognisable sound of “Beautiful Day” as the band played into the night with a mixture of new material and a few of the old classics for everyone.
Review & Photos – Chris Barber