The Rocket Summer + Save Your Breath + Matthew P @ Birmingham Academy, 26th May 2010
First on the bill for the night was Matthew P, a solo artist playing acoustic guitar, a mellow start to the night with a Jack Johnson and Jason Mraz kind of feel to his songs. The lighting for his set was very fitting using greens and purples, which complimented his style perfectly. Matthew was joined on stage by his motorised name plate even including a flapping bird which was a nice touch. The Suffolk solo artist was very comfortable and relaxed and stage which showed in his performance.
Next up were Save Your Breath, this Welsh five piece were completely opposite end of the scale from Matthew P. They entered the stage to the music from Jurassic park which was a nice touch.
From the very start the crowd was behind these guys, jumping in time with songs. The band was very energetic on stage showing some similarities to early New Found Glory and Taking Back Sunday. There was a very positive reaction to the band that really set the scene for The Rocket Summer. All their songs were upbeat and fast tempo and they didn’t seem to miss a beat even when the guitarist equipment let him down, this was quickly fixed by the roadie. All in all a good crowd pleasing set.
Enter The Rocket Summer, our head liners for the evening. The girls in the crowd went nuts as soon as the lights were turned on the lead singer’s keyboard. Right from the word go the crowd were absolutely deafening, they were clapping in time with first song which was good to see.
After a couple of slow melodic tunes the tempo soon picked up with the lead singer making the move from his keyboard to guitar with good results. There was a brief break where the band thanked everyone for coming out and supporting them, and followed this up by saying that the last night of the last tour was in Birmingham and was truly a night to remember.
He quickly apologised for their long absence from touring the UK but really showed how much the fans mean to the band. Throughout the set the very good mix of upbeat, fast tempo songs and also slow love songs. The rest of the band then left the stage just leaving the lead singer, who then played every instrument on stage, giving it a one man band sort of feel to that song, this vibe carried on for the rest of the set.
There were three other band members on stage that may as well not have been there as they were not introduced to the crowd and they did not say a single word. The entire band then left the stage, and the lead singer then appeared in the middle of the crowd to perform an acoustic song, this sent the female members of the crowd into frenzy.
Once his Yeah Yeah Yeah cover was over he then got the crowd to pass him back to the stage, to which they gladly obliged. With about 15 mins left of the set a confetti bomb went off which is always a crowd pleaser. The lead then comes out with the quote “If we’re not friends on Facebook are we really friends?”
The set then finished with a keyboard solo from the lead singer. A small encore consisted of a medley of parts of their biggest songs. Overall a good night but in my opinion there was no need for the other band members of the Rocket Summer, sad that the rest of the band did not get involved with the crowd in anyway shape or form.
Review – Richard Brake
Photos – Michelle Ballard