Blood Red Shoes + Johnny Foreigner @ Birmingham Barfly – 27th March 2008
When I was told to go and review a gig at the Barfly, I didn’t expect to feel like I was in the Arctic. Anyone who was at the gig will agree with me that it was bloody cold. Gigs are supposed to be sweat pits, not freezers.
When the first act walked out onto the stage, I have to admit, I thought oh no, not more acoustic folk songs, as I’ve seen quite a few bands like that over the last week. Boy was I wrong. Peggy Sue and the Pirates are two ladies from Brighton called (no not Peggy Sue, but maybe even cooler names) Rosa Rex and Katy Klaw. Their songs are so full of soul it’s no surprise that they have to let it all out. With short, sweet, catchy pop songs, you’ll be humming the chorus all the way home. My favourites of the night were tracks called “Superman”, whose lyrics were full of wit and humour, and their new single, aptly named “New Song”. They were a joy to watch, supplying a stripped back way of getting their songs across. No gimmicks here.
While waiting for the next band to come on, and trying not to freeze to death, I had to readjust my mood as I knew that the next band on wasn’t a chilled out soulful duo, but a three piece from Birmingham who are going to make one hell of a noise. Johnny Foreigner consists of Alexei (guitar), Junior (drums and keys) and Kelly (bass), and they play this noisy, scuzzy, aggressive pop. I was really excited about this gig, as I’ve wanted to see this band for some time. You know when you hear something and it makes your eyes open as wide as humanly possible and you slightly tilt backwards, well that’s what happened when they went into their first song. It became apparent very quickly that Alexei is a really talented guitarist, reminding me of a cross between Greenwood and Buckley. Not to leave out the other two, in the quieter parts of songs Junior moves quickly to play his Casio keyboard. This adds a real atmosphere to the songs and is something that you rarely see.
In between songs the band will have a nice little chat, and explain what the next song is about, which in hindsight is great because I couldn’t really make out much of the lyrics, as most of them were whaling, yelps and screams, still great, but sometimes the front two did go on a bit. One of the key points that the band tried to get across was how important Birmingham is to them, as it’s the influence for most of their songs. One song in particular was about how goths of Birmingham burn down their clubs and then invades indie places (the band were referring to the Flapper), which had me in hysterics. Their latest single “Our Bipolar Friends” is a brilliant pop song, and I’ll have words with anyone who thinks different. Johnny Foreigner is currently on a mammoth tour going on all the way into the summer, at which point they release an album. They are true ambassadors of Birmingham.
Now that I’ve warmed up a bit I just need to survive long enough for the last band of the evening. Blood Red Shoes describe themselves as “arrogant little kids” and in my opinion; with songs as good as these they have every right to. To set the scene the band came out to this spooky intro, letting you know something dark and sinister was about to take place. From the first smash of the drums, and strum of the guitar, what struck me first was how LOUD they were. I hope this isn’t a sign that I’m getting old. Secondly, to look at this pair, you’d be forgiven for thinking that they are a couple of well behaved, quiet youngsters. In reality they ROCK, HARD. They play song after song of hard, moody, upbeat, catchy material, and you cant help but enjoy yourself. It’s a bit like they are the opposite of the White Stripes, with Laura being the one who plays simple but effective guitar parts, while Steven plays the more intricate, technical stuff.
As the set continues, I start to wonder why this band is not massive. All of the ingredients are in place. These songs should be bound for the top of the charts. The first time I saw BRS was early last year, and all the reviewers were saying, “BRS are the ones to watch”, and “this band are set for big things”. But I’m still waiting for that to happen. Hopefully with the release of their debut album “Forgive Nothing”, they will be catapulted to the big time. To cap off a great set the band finish with “I Wish I Was Someone Better”, which just left me gagging for more, more and more.
Review – Sean Woodlock
Photos – James Marston