birminghamreview, Author at

January 31, 2018

THE GALLERY: The Bottom Line @ The Asylum (2) 24.01.18

Words by Ashleigh Goodwin / Pics by Eleanor Sutcliffe

The only time I’ve been to The Asylum is on a Saturday night, at around one in the morning, blindly making my way around the downstairs room and the smoking area.

A Wednesday night is quite a different experience. As I make my way upstairs to The Asylum 2 it feels like a completely different place – merch tables are lined up in the corridor and people stand chatting by the bar or sitting on the seats around the side, while a dedicated group stand in front of the stage solidly for the entire evening.

Cited as one of British rock’s best new bands by Rocksound, Birmingham boys Beaumont open the evening. They play tracks from their debut Nothing EP such as ‘Cheap Side’ and ‘E-Street’, which they dedicate to William Shakespeare who penned the silent character and inspiration behind their name. They also perform newer songs ‘Hurler’ and ‘Art School’ – a song they introduce with the line, “this one is about burning down a school”.

Spencer Edmonds’ emotive lyricism, combined with guitars and drumming that match it beat for beat, makes for a crowd-pleasing set. Beaumont’s performance is interesting to watch, as you are able to hear a range of influences in each song, sometimes giving off a Mallory Knox and Young Guns vibe and at other times reminiscent of Lower than Atlantis (which makes sense as their new EP was produced by Lower than Atlantis producer John Mitchell). They leave the audience by thanking them for paying attention, before launching into their last song of the night ‘Boys and Girls’ – a mix of heavy guitars and an insanely catchy chorus that gets the audience head banging.

Better Days take to the stage next, and even before vocalist Graeme Costello finishes the sentence “we’re from Newcastle” the crowd is cheering and jumping at his command. Better Days are a real highlight of the evening. Costello has distinct vocals that work well with the atypical pop-punk sound of the quintet and that translate perfectly into a live setting. The band build a solid connection with the crowd, asking them to “show us your dance moves” before playing ‘Without You’ from their Spilt EP.

Unsurprisingly, when the opening notes to ‘This House’ sound through the venue, people are already singing the opening lines. It sounds a bit like Neck Deep, but revised through Better Days’ effortless, unique execution and approach to song construction that draws influences from pop-punk with an emo undertone. The set is cut short, but nevertheless ends on a high, due to the charismatic camaraderie Better Days have managed to create.

Alternative rockers, Lacey, provide the night’s main support, immediately launching into ‘Change the Story’ from their 2015 album Under the Brightest Lights. The crowd is radiating excitement and it’s easy to see why; the way the vocals mix together and are supported by strong hooks make for a catchy catalogue of songs with an anthemic quality.

Again, their relationship with the audience makes them enjoyable to watch – it’s been a while since I’ve been to show with such a high level of audience interaction and I’d forgotten how much richer it can make the experience. As Lacey explain something to the effect of “we’re running on 75% capacity, but are 100% awesome, 82% drunk and will reach full capacity by the end” and that guitarist Josh will pick up the bar tab, the atmosphere is only progressively positive from there.

So, when vocalist Graz asks who is excited for The Bottom Line the cheering increases tenfold. Another highlight begins when they say, “this next song is a cover and we liked it so much we put it on a CD for you”, referring to their 2016 release ‘Dammit’ – their take on the classic Blink 182 song, which is perfectly executed in a slowed down version of the original. Lacey play their newest release, ‘Answers’, which gets a positive reception, but nothing compared to the reaction of the crowd when they end on ‘Tonight’ which is still echoing through my head over a day later.

Upstairs at The Asylum gets progressively more hyped as The Bottom Line’s time draws near. When the lights go down and a red light creeps across the stage, the crowds’ cheering increases as the foursome enter from the back of the room with their guitars. Vocalist, Callum Amies, greets the room with a cool “Hello Birmingham” before continuing, “here’s the deal – I can’t sing and you can…I woke up this morning and couldn’t even speak.” Not that you can tell that his voice is suffering, as their performance is tight, with exact precision across the guitars, drums and vocals.

Before the vocals start, the crowd is jumping high at the first reverb of the guitar, and at the command of the band they split down the middle, creating gang-vocals – a trademark of many of their songs. Nearly each track is intertwined with audience participation, such as getting the crowd to crouch down on the floor during ‘Record Player’ – something of a popular trope in the alternative scene, but one that never gets old as you see members of the crowd laughing and clutching their friends for balance. The crowd is made to squeeze in tight as they sing the chorus, and as Amies balances preciously on the barriers hands shoot up to support him.

The penultimate song, ‘I Still Hate’, you boasts a ridiculously catchy chorus and signature pop-punk riffs that go down extremely well with the crowd. The Bottom Line end with ‘Teenage Dirtbag’ – it would almost be rude not to as they’d covered ‘Smash Mouth’ mid set – both tracks a nod to the influences that are prevalent throughout their music. You get the feeling The Bottom Line could be playing to a venue of a ten thousand or ten, and their performance wouldn’t falter; there would be the same level of interaction, energy and passion, as they utilise the space and crowd to such a great extent. I don’t remember the last time I’ve seen the phrase ‘in the palm of their hand’ in effect so intently. The audience is entranced.

It is enjoyable to witness the range of influences that each band draws from tonight, and this is reflected in the audience who are mostly clothed in band merchandise from Bowling for Soup to All Time Low. It reinforces the richness of the genre and sub-genres spanning from generalised alternative rock, to pop-punk to emo elements.

I can’t help but focus on crowds when going to events such as this and I feel it can say a lot about the bands on stage. Seeing The Asylum audience grouping together, dancing amongst their friends and throwing their hands in the air to every beat reinforces the importance of music to a predominantly younger audience. These are defining years in music, where knowledge and tastes are built by attending gigs. It is something special to witness.

The Bottom Line @ The Asylum (2) 24.01.18 / Eleanor Sutcliffe – Birmingham Review

For more on The Bottom Line, visit www.thebottomlineuk.com

_________

Lacey – supporting The Bottom Line @ The Asylum (2) 24.01.18 / Eleanor Sutcliffe – Birmingham Review

For more on Lacey, visit www.laceyofficialuk.com

_________

Better Days – supporting The Bottom Line @ The Asylum (2) 24.01.18 / Eleanor Sutcliffe – Birmingham Review

For more on Better Days, visit www.soundcloud.com/betterdaysband

_________

Beaumont – supporting The Bottom Line @ The Asylum (2) 24.01.18 / Eleanor Sutcliffe – Birmingham Review

For more on Beaumont, visit www.facebook.com/beaumontband

For more from The Asylum, including full event listings and online ticket sales, visit www.theasylumvenue.co.uk

For more on Surprise You’re Dead! Music, visit www.surpriseyouredeadmusic.co.uk

January 31, 2018January 31, 2018

THE GALLERY: Miss May I @ Mama Roux’s 24.01.18

Words & pics by Aatish Ramchurn

As I drive onto Lower Trinity Street to park my car I see a red, double-decker tour bus with a trailer right outside Mama Roux’s. At first I thought a band due to play in the main room of the O2 Institute had parked outside the wrong venue; it’s normally vans and cars I see parked on this street, not tour buses fit for major rock stars.

But of course, it makes sense. Tonight’s headline act, Miss May I, are traveling across the UK and Europe on their We Are Stronger Than Before tour with American bands, Fit For A King and Currents, along with Void of Vision from Australia. It’s only right such a metalcore smorgasbord should be in a big, comfortable tour bus together.

I arrive just in time to see Currents, who hail from Connecticut, open the night. This is their first international tour, which also means their first time in Birmingham. Usually, not many people arrive at a gig early enough to watch the opening acts but Currents really give it their all on the stage in front of the first few that watch them. First impressions count after all.

I shoot the first three songs of Currents’ set, then take advantage of a rare opportunity to sit in a booth upstairs at Mama Roux’s, reviewing the images I’ve taken.

As the next band set up the stage, I scan the room from the balcony, looking for interesting perspectives to shoot from. The room isn’t filling up with too many more people, so it appears this night won’t be the busiest – great for me making my way to and from the front of the stage, perhaps not so great for those on it.

I head to the floor to shoot Void of Vision, another band performing for the first time in Birmingham, although going by their solid set and engagement with the crowd you wouldn’t believe that. Donning a baseball cap and oversized t-shirt, frontman Jack Bergin paces the stage, encouraging the audience to start circle pits and wave their arms in the air.

From seeing a few people wearing their t-shirts, and a few comments I overhear, I sense that the main support act, Fit for a King, are the band a lot of people are really looking forward to. Their presence on stage has more people heading towards the front, giving me relatively little space to shoot from, but keeping us all in a nice and understanding crowd.

It’s only fair that I extend that courtesy too, by keeping my stance as low as possible, and by keeping my time at the front of the stage short so the ticket paying public can make use of the space. After all, fans have shelled out over £12 a ticket to experience a great night of metalcore, not the back of a photographer’s head. I spend the rest of Fit for a King’s set on the fringes of the room, enjoying watching the majority of people sing along to their songs word for word. I just know that Fit for a King are a band that really means something to these fans.

The atmosphere starts to feel a bit deflated by the time Ohio’s Miss May I grace the stage. It could be that people are slightly drained from the excitement of Fit for a King, but Miss May I don’t quite get the reception that I would have expected for a headline act.

They open their set with a few singles from their latest album, Shadows Inside, but it isn’t until they play more familiar numbers like ‘Hey Mister’ that the crowd really starts to give the band their full energy. Perhaps four full hours of metalcore can get a little too much in the end, but overall I’m sure it was an enjoyable night for the fans.

Miss May I @ Mama Roux’s 24.01.18 / Aatish Ramchurn – Birmingham Review

For more on Miss May I, visit www.missmayimusic.com

_________

Fit for a King – supporting Miss May I @ Mama Roux’s 24.01.18 / Aatish Ramchurn – Birmingham Review

For more on Fit for a King, visit www.fitforakingband.com

_________

Void of Vision – supporting Miss May I @ Mama Roux’s 24.01.18 / Aatish Ramchurn – Birmingham Review

For more on Void of Vision, visit www.voidofvision.com

_________

Currents – supporting Miss May I @ Mama Roux’s 24.01.18 / Aatish Ramchurn – Birmingham Review

For more on Currents, visit www.currentsofficial.com

For more on Mama Roux’s, including full event listings and online ticket sales, visit www.facebook.com/mamarouxs

For more on Surprise You’re Dead! Music, visit www.surpriseyouredeadmusic.co.uk

January 30, 2018

BREVIEW: Fern Brady – Suffer, Fools! @ Glee Club (B’ham) 29.01.18

Words by Helen Knott

Fern Brady was meant to perform at the Glee Club’s Studio on Friday night rather than today, a Monday, but a date mix up meant that she was in Sweden instead. A Friday night gig would have likely made for a larger audience, with the overspill of people too late to get into the main room plumping up the numbers. But, on the positive side, tonight’s good natured crowd is here specifically to see Brady. They are attentive and they get it.

Brady’s show is called Suffer, Fools! and it takes us through a number of dramatic episodes in her life, from experiences in dead end jobs (serving breakfast to paedophiles and murderers, working as a stripper) to an abusive relationship that culminated with an attempt on her life. Heavy topics for a comedy show perhaps, but Brady keeps things light and fast-moving, using these life events as a backbone to talk around a number of contemporary issues.

The lack of gay marriage and abortion in Northern Ireland, for instance. In Brady’s eyes: “All homophobes are gay. It’s just a waiting game.” She suggests it’s not gay people ruining the definition of traditional marriage – straight people do it all the time. She backs this up with examples, like her father’s second marriage to “Julie from Milton Keynes” and tall women marrying short men (“I think it’s against nature”). Brady cleverly parrots the language around homophobia when defending her own relationship with an Irish guy who is shorter than herself: “We look stupid together… but love is love.”

Brady mentions having to amend some of her jokes before the BBC will broadcast them, in particular one about DUP leader Arlene Phillips. She can go a little close to the mark, but always with the aim of making an important point, as is the case with her material about sexual harassment. Brady claims to have been complaining about being sexually harassed on the street for the past five years, but was taken as seriously as, “ghosts or homeopathy”. How times have changed. She calls out celebrities such as Joanna Lumley, Angela Lansbury and Liam Neeson for undermining the seriousness of the accusations against Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey and Louis CK. Brady’s understated delivery is largely quiet and deliberate, so when she does raise her voice to make an indignant point it has plenty of impact.

The final section of Suffer, Fools! looks at two of Brady’s dysfunctional past relationships. A story about a bad break-up with a posh boy at university explores issues of class (“I don’t fuck outside my class”) and eating disorders. It ends violently, but not as violently as an abusive relationship in her twenties where her boyfriend attempts to smother her with a pillow. It was all a long time ago and Brady refrains from making any profound points about what happened, even if she jokes that this would get her an extra star in a Guardian review.

It all leads up to a very silly, but funny final scene that pulls together a number of jokes from the show. It’s a fitting climax to a very well thought-out hour of comedy in which Brady doesn’t shy away from the darker side of life and is brutal in her pursuit of a zippy punchline. This, along with her low-key delivery, sets her apart from other new comics on the block. I hope that the BBC doesn’t polish too much of the weirdness out of her.

For more on Fern Brady, visit www.fernbrady.co.uk

For more from the Glee Club venues, including full event listings and online ticket sales, visit www.glee.co.uk

January 30, 2018

BREVIEW: Clerks & Shooting Clerks (with Q&A) @ The Mockingbird Cinema & Kitchen 19.01.18

Words by Emily Doyle

On arrival, the foyer of the Mockingbird Cinema & Kitchen is full. The waiting audience is abuzz with discussion of “the original”. As usual, the informal atmosphere at this indie gem leaves newcomers unsure of the etiquette: “Do we just go in?”

At 7:15pm sharp, a member of the cinema staff opens the door and welcomes us in. Shooting Clerks writer and director Christopher Downie is joined by producer Ryan James in front of the screen. The pair explain their last minute decision to reverse the running order, showing the original Clerks (1994) followed by Shooting Clerks (2016), and that they’ve never actually watched the two films back-to-back before. They ask if anyone has never seen Clerks. A smattering of hands are raised. The rest of the auditorium turn to give them encouraging looks – everyone knows that they’re in for a treat.

Clerks opens with the now iconic View Askew vanity card, and the audience settles into their seats contentedly. There’s joy to be had in enjoying this cult hit in a cinema surrounded by laughing fans, rather than half-watching it on a laptop at a winding down house party. The short scenes and quick dialogue mean that there’s always something new to enjoy; Smith packs so many witticisms into 92 grainy monochrome minutes that Clerks stands up well to multiple watches. Iconic lines (“What kind of convenience store do you run here?”) raise a hearty laugh from new viewers and certified Kevin Smith geeks alike.

On the surface, you’d be forgiven for thinking Clerks relies on smutty laughs and a DIY aesthetic, but its true charm runs much deeper. Even without much knowledge of the back story, everything about the film feels authentic. The cast have the chemistry you’d expect from real life friends, and the dialogue could only have been written by someone who really does work in a convenience store. An unacquainted viewer is left with some questions though: Why black and white? Is this as low budget as it looks? And who is this Silent Bob character?

The team behind Shooting Clerks have the answers. There is a short break to grab a beer and a bag of fresh popcorn from the bar, then Downie and James introduce their film, encouraging the audience to look out for the twenty cameos (with more still to be added in later cuts of the film).

UK screenings of Shooting Clerks have been long awaited – it only premiered last week at The Prince Charles Cinema in London. Rather than the obvious documentary style, the film follows a biopic format. It’s not often you see a biopic where everyone portrayed is still alive to pass comment, but Downie is lucky enough to have Kevin Smith’s support. The film tells the story behind Clerks, a tale which is now the stuff of indie cinema legend.

We see a young Kevin Smith skipping school to go to the cinema with his father (played by Scott Schiaffo, the Chewlies gum representative in the original Clerks). An older, more familiar Smith is excellently played by Mark Frost. We see him working in the real convenience store where Clerks was filmed by night. We see the fabled credit cards used to raise the $27,000 budget for a film that would go on to gross $3 million at the box office. We even see the birth of Jay and Silent Bob.

Shooting Clerks is a film with a lot of heart. After showing them working day and night, Downie concludes with scenes of the Clerks crew celebrating the sale of the distribution rights to the dubiously named Harry Weizmann of Mirimax Films. Shooting Clerks is a film about making a film with your friends – with whatever means you can get your hands on.

“Are you guys okay with a drunk Q&A?” James asks, storming to the front of the auditorium, wine glass in hand. He’s joined once again by Downie, and by Chris Bain (Jason Mewes) and Tom Sullivan (Jeff Anderson) from the cast. The group offer up a quick back-story, explaining that most of the film was shot in Scotland with a just a few scenes in the US. They address the Harry Weismann character, with Downie saying he was relieved that they didn’t include a portrayal on the actual producer in question in light of recent accusations. James tells the audience that the film is about 85% accurate, and that, “the truth is the truth – this is a very entertaining way of telling the truth.”

When asked about their favourite Kevin Smith film, it’s a surprise to see that the crew almost unanimously agree on Clerks II. Maybe another biopic is in the works, then?

For more on Shooting Clerks, visit www.shootingclerks.com

For more from The Mockingbird Cinema & Kitchen, including full event listings and online ticket sales, visit www.mockingbirdcinema.com

January 30, 2018

BREVIEW: Ed Byrne – Spoiler Alert @ Town Hall 27.01.18

Words by Helen Knott

Ed Byrne warms up the healthy Town Hall audience with some amusing quips about the building work in Birmingham city centre. He takes the slightly generic line, “It will be lovely when it’s finished” and runs with it, extending it into a much funnier, and more topical joke. “You see all those signs for Carillion and think, ‘Oh fuck. It’s never going to be finished…”

Audience duly warmed up, Byrne launches into the gig proper. Called Spoiler Alert, he describes the catalyst for the show as being his concern about, “how spoiled we are, as people, as individuals, as consumers.” A lot of the material centres around Byrne’s concern that his two children are themselves spoiled. They go to a nicer school than he did, have better toys… “I’m raising two posh, English, boys.”

The examples Byrne uses to illustrate how spoilt his children are aren’t particularly horrifying. His children are able to watch specialised children’s TV channels, so they don’t have to wait until Saturday morning to watch cartoons. They ask for elderflower cordial and enjoy eating pesto. They aren’t particularly overwhelmed by an expensive trip to Lapland to meet Santa, because they saw him in Westfield shopping centre the Christmas before.

This is funniest when Byrne confides, “It’s all I have in me not to hate my own children”. And that he once considered letting his youngest child touch an electric fence as a “learning opportunity”. These kinds of thoughts quite likely pass through a lot of parents’ minds when their children are being difficult, but they’re rarely voiced publicly. It’s a little close to the mark for a number of audience members, who shift uncomfortably in their seats, as is a joke about wanking while camping and the section when he ruminates on the effect that getting divorced would have on his career (“a rich seam to mine”). It’s a gentile crowd, and I’m not sure that they’ve seen much of Byrne’s wanking material on the BBC.

It’s hard to take Byrne (a successful comedian with a big house and a nice car) seriously when he talks about how spoilt his children and the general population are. He starts the show by dissing the disappointing free snacks that he receives in tour venues. He complains about the – no doubt lucrative – corporate gigs that he plays. He criticises his tour manager for booking him into an arena in Derby, which he has no chance of selling out. There’s more than a whiff of “first world problems” about all this. I’m sure than Byrne must be making these comments purposely hypercritical to show that no one is above being spoilt; he’s too clever to lack self-awareness. But if we’re meant to be laughing at him as a character, he should ham it up a bit. In reality, it’s so cloaked under his cheery persona that you don’t really notice the absurdity of what he’s saying.

Byrne teeters on the edge of something interesting when talking about the way that we consume news. Instead of reading to challenge our opinions, Byrne argues that we seek news that is “tailored to our beliefs”. This probably is more prevalent than it used to be, with social media echo chambers trapping us into only ever reading views allied to our own. But Byrne’s example that we now only read newspapers that tally with our beliefs doesn’t completely ring true – there have been left and right wing newspapers in Britain for years; this isn’t a modern phenomenon. Still, spending some time teasing out how, in this regard, people are more spoilt than they used to be, and the impact it has on our political landscape, could have made for a compelling end to the show. Instead, Byrne quickly moves on and the point is lost between a weird rant about how semi-skimmed milk is indulgent and an unfunny anecdote about an author friend.

In essence, much of Spoiler Alert is a variation on the trope pedaled by grandparents the world over. Basically: “young people don’t know they’re born these days!” This would be fine if Byrne was exploring the topic in a particularly thought-provoking, novel or, crucially, funny way. Comedy doesn’t always have to be making a point and to have the aim of providing an entertaining Saturday evening for a roomful of people is completely valid. On the whole, Byrne achieves this objective, but too often the jokes and anecdotes meander without packing a punch.

For more on Ed Byrne, visit www.edbyrne.com

For more from Town Hall, including full event listings and online ticket sales, visit www.thsh.co.uk