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January 26, 2018

BPREVIEW: Ed Byrne @ Town Hall 27.01.18

Comedian Ed Byrne brings his Spoiler Alert show to Birmingham’s Town Hall on 27^th January, in the first week of a UK tour that stretches into June.

Spoiler Alert is scheduled for 8pm at the Town Hall, with and tickets priced at £27 (+bf). For direct show information, including venue details and online ticket sales, click here.

Ed Byrne has been a comedian for around 20 years now, pretty much his entire adult life. He’s had hit tours, DVDs and has sold out numerous runs at the Edinburgh Fringe.

Byrne has also established a successful TV career, not just through his numerous appearances on comedy shows such as Mock the Week, Have I Got News for You and Live at the Apollo, but also in factual genres. Indeed, Byrne seems to have reached the enviable position of being able to create TV series about subjects he’s personally interested in, such as Dara & Ed’s Great Big Adventure in Central America and its successor Road to Mandalay – road trips that feature friend and fellow comedian, Dara Ó Briain.

Byrne is undoubtedly in comedy’s Premier League, with publications like the Sunday Times declaring that his work ‘could stand proudly next to any Izzard, Bailey, Carr or Skinner stadium-filler’. He certainly tends to mine similar ground to these comedians, though arguably without the quirks that make their voices truly unique.

Spoiler Alert was debuted and developed at last year’s Edinburgh Fringe, as Byrne traces his shift from a working class young Dubliner to a middle class countryside-dweller. He looks at the impact this change has had on his children’s upbringing compared to his own, and asks the audience “are we right to be fed up, or are we spoiled?”

It may sound like common territory for a mainstream comedian’s set, but with Byrne‘s effortless, laid back delivery (and those 20 years of comedy experience) he’s sure to bring an easy charm to a well-considered and fun evening of genial entertainment.

Ed Byrne on weddings – Live at the Apollo

Ed Byrne brings his Spoiler Alert show to Town Hall on Saturday 27^th January. For direct show information, including venue details and online ticket sales, visit www.thsh.co.uk/event/ed-byrne-spoiler-alert

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

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

January 25, 2018January 25, 2018

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

Words by Helen Knott

Comedian Fern Brady brings her third solo show – Suffer, Fools! – to Birmingham’s Glee Club on 29^th January. Tickets are £12 in advance, with doors open at 8pm for an 8.30pm start. For direct gig info, including venue details and online ticket sales, click here.

*The Fern Brady Suffer, Fools! show on 29th January has been rescheduled from its original date of 26th January. For more information on refunds or issues relating to the rescheduling, please contact The Glee Club box office on 0871 472 0400*

Fern Brady is quickly building momentum as one of the UK’s most promising up-and-coming comedians.

If an appearance on Stewart Lee’s Comedy Central show The Alternative Comedy Experience was an early badge of quality, this has been backed up with approving reviews and high profile appearances on Russell Howard’s Stand Up Central and Channel Four’s 8 Out of 10 Cats. Brady starts 2018 embarking on a long UK tour, followed by a string of dates at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, before another series of dates back in the UK.

Brady reportedly first tried stand-up comedy after the magazine she wrote for during the Edinburgh Fringe suggested she write an article where she faked it as a comedian. What the magazine didn’t know was that Brady secretly wanted to try stand-up comedy anyway, so took the gig much more seriously than was strictly needed. She hasn’t looked back, eventually making the final of the Fringe’s prestigious award for stand-up newcomers, So You Think You’re Funny, in 2011.

Just don’t label her a ‘Scottish’ comedian. Brady is uncomfortable being a talking head on issues of Scottish independence and is reportedly unimpressed with the English’s preoccupation with her nationality. But perhaps (after watching several YouTube snippets) some of the problem with the later lies in the fact that Brady‘s fairly broad accent (to my English ears, anyway) bolsters her no-nonsense delivery. And God bless this green and pleasant land, but an English accent just doesn’t have the same clout.

But of course, there’s much more to Fern Bady than being Scottish. Her autobiographical material (she claims to be terrible at making things up, so everything she talks about on stage is true) is self-assured, knowing and easy to relate to. This is a great chance to see a comedian on the up, in a relatively intimate venue. I’d get in quick, before she’s packing out arenas.

Fern Brady on Seann Walsh’s Late Night Comedy Spectacular

Fern Brady brings her Suffer, Fools! tour to The Glee Club (B’ham) on Monday 29^th January – rescheduled from 26^th January. For direct gig info, including venue details and online ticket sales, visit www.glee.co.uk/performer/fern-brady-tour

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 25, 2018January 25, 2018

BPREVIEW: The Death Show @ REP 26-27.01.18

Words by Ed King / Pics by Graeme Braidwood

Running from 26^th to 27^th January, Outer Circle Arts presents The Death Show – performed at Birmingham REP in The Door theatre space.

Tickets are priced at £14, with each evening performance scheduled for 8pm. There is a further matinee performance of The Death Show at 2:30pm on Saturday 27^th January, with a 30min panel discussion held after the performance with members of BrumYODO – ‘a community collective aiming to encourage open and honest conversations about death and dying.’

For direct event info on The Death Show at REP – including full programme times, venue details and online ticket sales, click here.

Created by Birmingham based ‘thanatophobes’ (Google it) and independent theatre makers, Lucy Nicholls and Antonia Beck, The Death Show ‘is a darkly comic journey of discovery and contemplation, exploring our universal relationships with death and dying’.

An original new production tackling the oldest subject known to humanity (…perhaps the second oldest, after sex) the creative duo spent time at local hospices – talking to both patients and practitioners, shadowing undertakers and training with celebrants. Coming ‘face to face’ with the subject of death, Nicholls and Beck then penned The Death Show – a stage play, written for two protagonists as they encourage an audience ‘to celebrate their own mortality. To laugh, cry, stick two fingers up at the grim reaper and discover why talking about death is ultimately life affirming.’

For a man who thinks about death all, the, freaking, time, this is a welcome addition to a conversation that is seldom had, yet seldom more important to have. After all, in the words of another curly haired obnoxious drunk, ‘no one here gets out alive’. And a bit of constructive criticism of how society can hide, especially from the inevitable, is rarely a bad thing.

However my fear (other than the Christian right controlling the afterlife) is that we get distracted by funerals. Death and the ceremony of remembering the dead are, to me, separate issues – both ones that need confidently addressing in modern times, but separate none the less. Telling people I want to be buried under a plum tree will not save my soul.

In 2018 – the year of whatever lord or secular crutch you so choose to cling to – we live in an age of tacit denial, sure, but also with the most advanced resources and references in recorded history. With the World Wide Web, never before has the human species been able to share stories and information with such a wide and easy reach.

Studies have been conducted across the globe into cardiac arrest, near death experiences and the transition of ‘alive’ to ‘dead’ – as we currently call the two states of being. Indeed, Dr Sam Parnia was the lead author on the AWARE study at the University of Southampton, which ran from 2008 to 2014 and ‘examined the broad range of mental experiences in relation to death’ from over 2000 patients in the UK, US and Austria. Every British tabloid has published stories on near death experiences, scientifically researched or otherwise, so every British tabloid reader is aware of the discussion. There’s even a Wikipedia entry on the ‘Afterlife’.

But art can so often be a healthier catalyst to conversation, especially when we try to address/understand the darker fringes or ‘taboo’ subjects of the human endevour. It allows us to take a more detached delve into frightening waters, with the hope of finding answers and perhaps even solace. And as questions go, it doesn’t get more visceral than ‘what happens when you die?’

How long was that panel discussion again…?

The Death Show

The Death Show runs at the Birmingham REP (The Door) from 26^th to 27^th January – as presented by Outer Circle Arts. For direct event info, including full programme times, venue details and online ticket sales, visit www.birmingham-rep.co.uk/whats-on/the-death-show

For more on The Death Show, visit www.thedeathshow.co.uk

For more from the Birmingham REP, including full production listings and online ticket sales, visit www.birmingham-rep.co.uk

For more on Outer Circle Arts, visit www.outercirclearts.co.uk

For more from BrumYODO, visit www.brumyodo.org.uk

January 23, 2018

BPREVIEW: The Bottom Line @ The Asylum (2) 24.01.18

Words by Ashleigh Goodwin

The Bottom Line perform at The Asylum 2 on Wednesday 24^th January, coming straight from their supporting slot on Waterparks’ sold out tour.

Promoted by Surprise You’re Dead! Music, doors to The Asylum 2 open at 6pm with the gig accessible to ages 14+. Standard tickets start from £10 on The Asylum website, and £11 (adv) on SeeTickets – for direct gig info and links to online ticket sales, click here.

Established in 2011, The Bottom Line have made waves across the scene since releasing their debut album Role Models? in the same year – from supporting pop-punk powerhouses Bowling for Soup and Simple Plan, to an eventful 2017 that saw the band play over 60 shows on a tour spanning the USA, Canada and Europe.

2018 sees the London based four-piece embarking on their biggest UK headline tour to date, coming to The Asylum in Birmingham at the midway point of six dates from Glasgow to London. Also this year, The Bottom Line are co-headlining the Saturday of Pop Punk Pile Up 2018 – sharing the top bill status with bands such as Room 94 and The King Blues over the course of the April weekender.

The Bottom Line’s aim ‘to make jumpy music and remind people that not everything sucks’ is reflected in their array of singles including ‘Cancel Christmas’ and ‘Insecure’, as well as their I Still Hate You EP, released in January 2018. Also worth checking out is the band’s Covered in Punk! album that includes covers of Wheatus, Weezer, Andrew W.K and Taylor Swift (accompanied by a hilarious parody on their Youtube channel) – available to download for free, along with their complete discography, on The Bottom Line’s Bandcamp page.

Known for their energetic live performances, interaction with fans and their self-proclaimed statement to ‘keep pop punk fun’, The Bottom Line have carved their place in the modern day pop-punk scene, with a nostalgic old school sound and vibe and songs that wouldn’t seem out of place alongside an early 2000’s pop-punk playlist – their video for ‘Record Player’ baring similarity to (or possibly paying homage) Sum 41’s ‘In Too Deep’ video.

Accompanying The Bottom Line on their UK tour are Newcastle based pop-punk four-piece Better Days, who take components of early 2000’s pop punk and intertwine them with newer takes and an emo undertone; Graeme Costello’s unique vocals overlap the band’s engrossing hooks and emotive lyrics.

Better Days have had an insanely packed past couple of years since forming – from releasing their debut single ‘This House’ in their conception year, to playing alongside bands such as Seaway, WSTR and Less Than Jake, as well as appearing at Slam Dunk festival, all since 2015.

Also on The Asylum bill are the Nottingham based alternative rock band Lacey, whose back-catalogue is compiled of catchy songs with sing-along choruses, incorporating elements of rock, pop-rock and post-emo. Lacey released their debut album, Under the Brightest Lights, back in 2015 – demonstrating their capabilities as a polished, compelling four-piece on the British rock scene.

With Lacey‘s follow up 5 track I Don’t Owe the World a Thing EP released in February 2016 – alongside their latest single, ‘Answers’, released in May 2017 – it wouldn’t be a bad idea to catch any of these bands in the smaller venues whilst you still can.

‘I Still Hate You’ – The Bottom Line

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

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

For more on Lacey, visit www.laceyofficialuk.com

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 23, 2018

BPREVIEW: Miss May I @ Mama Roux’s 24.01.18

Words by Aatish Ramchurn

On Wednesday 24th January, Miss May I arrive at Mama Roux’s in Birmingham as part of their We Are Stronger Than Before UK tour.

The concert is presented by Surprise You’re Dead! Music with tickets priced at £12 (adv) plus booking fee. Doors open at Mama Roux’s from 7pm. For direct gig info, including venue details and online ticket sales, click here.

Support acts for Miss May I in Birmingham, and the rest of the UK tour, include Texan metalcore band Fit for a King, Void of Vision from Australia, and Currents from Connecticut, USA.

Having previously supported Bullet for My Valentine and Killswitch Engage in 2013 and 2014, respectively, at the O2 Academy in Birmingham, Miss May I embark on their first headline tour of the UK in six years.

Miss May I originally formed in 2007 in Troy, Ohio. Almost a year after their formation, they signed to punk and metal label, Rise Records, and released their debut album Apologies for the Weak. The band would go on to release four more albums under Rise Records until they released their sixth and latest album, Shadows Inside, through SharpTone Records in 2017.

Throughout their 10 year career, Miss May I have managed to retain their original line up of Levi Benton on vocals, BJ Stead on lead guitarist, rhythm guitarist Justin Aufdemkampe, drummer Jerod Boyd, and Ryan Neff on bass. Although Neff briefly left Miss May I between 2007 – 2009, when he joined Cincinnati rockers Rose Funeral, and was replaced by Josh Gillespie during his absence.

As their upcoming UK tour is titled from the opening lyrics of Miss May I’s single ‘Lost In The Grey’, from their latest Shadows Inside album, it would be safe to assume that their setlist will heavily feature a lot of new tracks, as well as a few favourites from previous albums.

But whatever the main setlist, with a packed support lineup consisting of Fit for a King, Void of Vision, and Currents, metalcore fans of Birmingham should have enough to keep them occupied when Miss May I headline at Mama Roux’s on Wednesday 24th January.

‘Shadows Inside’ – Miss May I

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

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

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

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