The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus @ Birmingham Barfly – 17th May 2008

The Red Jumpsuit ApparatusThe Red Jumpsuit Aparatus

Queuing for gigs is always a tedious task, standing around for hours on end whilst the British weather does what it does best; rains. Doesn’t sound too appealing, does it? Ordinarily I dread queuing but this time is different. At around 6pm Elias Reidy (Red Jumpsuit Apparatus guitarist) comes outside and meets the fans. Having his photo taken, accepting an Iron Man figurine off a fan, signing tickets and even drawing various body parts at the request of a few fans. Elias looked as though he was genuinely enjoying the attention from the fans, and vice versa.
Eventually he left and we had another forty minute wait to get into the venue, this went surprisingly quickly! Inside everyone was jolly and there were smiles all round, it was delightful to be apart of it, normally these kinds of gigs attract teenagers who try to look tough and intimidating, but not this time.

The first support act, Kill The Arcade, were pretty good. They were lively on stage and regularly interacted with the audience which was a joy to watch, however there was something quite melancholy about the performance. I don’t know whether it was the lack of response from the audience or because of the cold but it failed to dazzle me, which was such a shame because the band were very friendly and seemed to enjoy themselves. It is always hard being first on stage.

Kill The Arcade - Supporting The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus

Next up were Sherwood, a band who managed to surprise me. Whilst setting up their instruments, there were some technical difficulties – correction; a lot of technical difficulties and it seemed to annoy the audience. Endless waiting can have a rather negative effect! However the band managed to get through the difficulties and successfully began their first song. The keyboardist immediately caught my attention, he seemed very lively and regularly jumped around whilst playing the keyboards, I have to admit it was impressive and the excitement of Sherwood rubbed off on the audience. Everyone was dancing along and it was all very fun. Sherwood are a band to look out for, the choruses are unbelievably catchy and they are fun to watch. They have the same attitude as bands such as Bowling For Soup – being on stage is fun and they enjoy the music they are playing. Why take everything so seriously when you can have a laugh playing live?!

Sherwood - Supporting The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus

Finally the band everyone had been waiting for burst onto stage and play a mixture of soft and heavy songs. Everyone head banged along and sung so loud they almost drowned out RJA. America has an endless list of talented bands and this band is definitely high up on that list. The vocals are amazing and Ronnie Winter has the ability to sing in a range of styles, suggesting that The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus don’t want to be lumped into one music genre and this is a kind of rare treat.

The Red Jumpsuit AparatusThe Red Jumpsuit Aparatus

As they are promoting their new album, “Don’t You Fake It”, they played a few tracks that I believe will be big hits this year. “Atrophy” and “Your Guardian Angel” are definitely tracks you should look out for! I’m relatively new to this band and I’m definitely going to look out for more of their music.

They’re not what you’d call a “pretty boy” group and we need more of these kinds of bands, ones that are actually in it for the music!
If you haven’t seen this band live, I suggest you do soon, they’ll blow you away!

Review – Georgina Walsh
Photos – Keith West

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2 thoughts on “The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus @ Birmingham Barfly – 17th May 2008

  1. please could you or anyone who has good photos from this show of red jumpsuit get in contact with me as im willing to buy them off you, i am in real need of them to
    thanks so much

    deano-182@hotmail.com

  2. RONNIE winter love, soy fanatica a the red jumpsuit apparatus honestamente cuando conoci a ronnie winter cantar en esta banada me hice fanatica a sus canciones, son parte de mi vida.

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