The Parlotones + Liner + Copious @ The Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath – 7th October 2009
So it’s midweek, Friday’s not quite here but thankfully Monday is a memory, What do you do? Buy a lottery ticket and dream of all the things you’ll spend your millions on or go to The Hare & Hounds so see South Africa’s finest export? I decided there was no competition so I headed to Kings Heath a mere 10 minute walk for me, armed with my camera and my note pad. Luckily for me when I arrived at the venue local Birmingham promoter Carlo Salazzo was on the door and kindly issued me with a photo pass. I wondered into the main room to find The Parlotones sound checking and I thought to myself “this is going to be a great night”.
As the dry ice sweeps across the room local boys Copious take their positions on the stage and breeze into opening track ‘Sold My Soul’, and from that moment on all in the room are at the mercy of the band’s dirty knicker-dropping rock riffs. There are echoes of Black Sabbath and Zeppelin and all the things that make the Midlands a hive of talent.”Storyteller N The Ponce” is a raucous high tempo track that has all the people at the front of the stage jumping up and down and lead singer Larkin has a natural stage presence with an abundance of energy that makes singing and dancing look effortless. “White Noise” has great opening guitar and drums – Jimmy Pyro’s guitar playing is dirty rock ‘n’ roll at its best on “You Won’t Forget My Smile” and “Give Me Time”, and “Jude Vivre” brings this immaculate sounding set to a close. Copious are probably the best opening act I’ve seen in a long long time. They seem to have listened to great guitar bands past and present and come up with their own unique sound.
Next up are another local band, Liner. They open their set with “Tainted Heart” and when lead singer Alex Callaghan delivers the opening line” I’m only a boy” I tend to agree with him ,but their sound is very mature indeed for such a young band. “Just Got Started” is a rocky number that gets the crowd swaying as the band rock out on the stage. Next up is “Diamonds”- this is a gem of a track with the opening line, “now the singer’s gonna sing a song” and some fantastic guitar playing on the bridge from Ben Kennedy.Next up was “Come Back To Me” then “Conscience” (a favourite of mine from the boys). This sounded fantastic and had the crowd rocking.”Good Things” and “Happy” close the band’s set. This was a very good 30 minutes I was certainly impressed as too were the band,s followers that were here.
At 10pm the lights dim and four immaculately dressed figures appear on the stage. This is the moment I and most of the audience have waited 3 months for: the return of the greatest band ever to come out of South Africa, The Parlotones. Opening with a new song from the new album “Stardust Galaxies” “Push Me To The Floor” .This is the song I watched the band sound check to and I had the tune in my head ever since. Glen Hodgson’s keyboard playing is majestic on this, as he alternates from his bass guitar. “I’m Only Human” follows and from that moment on you know the band are in total control. “Giant Mistake” the band’s very own whine of the same name starts – I look up to see if the roof’s still on the building, because tonight the band are on fire. The sound is crystal clear and they’re note perfect. The girls at the front who kindly allowed me to get photos help Karn Morbee out on the final chorus to his delight.
When Karn picks up his acoustic guitar and Glen retreats to the keyboards I know that it’s time for “I’ll Be There” probably one of the most beautiful ballads I’ve ever heard. Karn’s vocals are haunting and beautiful and the lyrics are honest. I look to my left and see a tear roll down one girl’s face as she stares in awe at Karn’s sweat-soaked face and listens to his angelic voice. After a slight technical problem with Paul’s guitar the guy next to me (who was a little worse for wear on booze and had been shouting requests all night) shouted, “see you’re that good nobody even noticed!” This was greeted with a big smile from the band.
“Bird in Flight” gets proceedings back on track and the place is jumping from the front row and beyond. When the guy shouts for “Overexposed” then claims “I’ ve come all the way from South Africa you see you play” Glen Hodgson replies, “We’ve come all the way from South Africa to play for you” this was one of those moments when the heckler is out heckled and the crowd greets it with roars of laughter even he starts smile. “Here Comes The Man” and “Pretend” are played in this fantastic set, then “Solar System”. The band save the best until last and ”Beautiful” closes what to me was a prefect set from the band. I have been lucky enough to see them twice before, but tonight was the best yet They were truly outstanding – as I’m sure most of the people attending would agree.
After the gig the band happily posed for photos, signed merchandise and talked to fans, When the album is released I hope the rest of country will embrace The Parlotones because they are an exceptionally talented band and deserve to have the same status here as they have in their homeland. So as I disappear into the Birmingham night knowing I haven’t won the Lottery to be honest I couldn’t care less, I scooped the Jackpot tonight with this gig .
Thanks go to Carlo Salazzo and the band’s manager for making this review possible.
Review and photos – Ian Dunn