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December 1, 2017

THE GALLERY: Enter Shikari @ Arena Birmingham 24.11.17

Words & pics by Eleanor Sutcliffe

The last time I saw Enter Shikari, I was young, drunk (sorry mum) and throwing myself around a circle pit in Manchester’s Victoria Warehouse. Since then I like to think I’ve grown up a bit, but their politically charged music is something I’ve never managed to get out of my head. So when I heard they’d be playing in Arena Birmingham, I knew there was no way I could afford to miss it.

First up was Newport born and bred Astroid Boys. I’m kicking myself for not seeing these guys earlier on the local circuit as they were absolutely brilliant. Their mashup of grime and punk music looks awful on paper and yet these guys manage to pull it off flawlessly in real life.

Tracks such as ‘Foreigners’ off their latest album, Broke, had the crowd bouncing and dancing along like it was no one’s business. Their sound is fresh and exciting – like nothing I’ve heard of late. These guys are sure to go far and securing a tour supporting Enter Shikari is just the beginning of it.

Next, was Lower than Atlantis. Ignore everything you read about these guys delivering lackluster shows, because they were on fire this evening.

Mike Duce’s responsibilities are taken up with rhythm guitar and vocals, so granted he may not be the most energetic front man but their set was polished to perfection. Varied enough to give the crowd a taste of their newer material from their most recent album, Safe In Sound, but still delivering on the older material that fans fell in love with such as ‘Here We Go’ and ‘English Kids in America’.

And finally, Enter Shikari. Although I knew how much they had invested in the visual aspect of the show nothing could have prepared me for the theatrical lengths they had gone to. A large screen flickered above the stage, displaying a flight radar that synced with a quadraphonic sound system which surrounded the room. The sound of low flying aircraft echoed around Arena Birmingham to a buzzing telegram explaining a mission to the crowd. The atmosphere was intoxicating, with the build up causing furor amongst the audience.

Bursting on to the title track of their latest album, The Spark, Enter Shikari proceeded to deliver what I consider to be the best show I’ve seen this year. Their energy was dazzling, with every band member cavorting across the stage to a mass of strobe lighting and smoke. Tracks such as ‘Undercover Agents’ were announced by Rou hitting them into a typewriter which was projected onto the large screen above.

Enter Shikari’s theatrical capabilities knew no bounds for the evening, with every single song being an individual show in itself. And my God, did the crowd love it… From the frenzy inducing tracks such as ‘The Last Garrison’ to Rou’s distilled and heartbreaking rendition of ‘Airfield’, the Arena Birmingham audience could be heard (and seen) screaming along to every verse and chorus.

It’s always an odd experience watching a band who mean so much to a group of people. Settling myself on the balcony, I took a moment to watch the crowd – it was unlike anything I’d seen before. They were not reaching out to grab the band members, they were holding their friends hands and singing and dancing in groups.

It’s refreshing to see a band with such politically charged music also mean so much to a group of people. I never wanted this show to end. Enter Shikari, I salute you. You’ve blown me away, yet again.

Enter Shikari @ Arena Birmingham 24.11.17 / Eleanor Sutcliffe – Birmingham Review

For more on Enter Shikari, visit www.entershikari.com

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Lower the Atlantis – supporting Enter Shikari @ Arena Birmingham 24.11.17 / Eleanor Sutcliffe – Birmingham Review

For more on Lower the Atlantis, visit www.lowerthanatlantis.co

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Astroid Boys – supporting Enter Shikari @ Arena Birmingham 24.11.17 / Eleanor Sutcliffe – Birmingham Review

For more on Astroid Boys, visit www.astroid-boys.com

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For more from Arena Birmingham, including full event listings and online ticket sales, visit www.arenabham.co.uk

For more from DHP Family, including all national tours and venues, visit www.dhpfamily.com

November 29, 2017

THE GALLERY: PVRIS @ O2 Academy Birmingham 23.11.17

Words & pics by Eleanor Sutcliffe

I doubt I’ve ever seen O2 Academy this busy. As we are filed into the venue, I’m truly surprised and slightly overwhelmed at the number of people who’ve come to see PVRIS tonight. In hindsight, this shouldn’t have been surprising – with frequent airplay on Radio 1, they’ve become a staple in the alternative rock scene and are gaining more and more fans by the minute.

First up was Tyne, a 19-year-old chill pop artist hailing from Cambridge. She set the bar exceedingly high for the evening – if you’re a fan of the likes of Lorde, Halsey and Gabrielle Aplin, then you’ll love her stuff. Tracks like ‘Crawl’ and ‘Girly’ crept under my skin and had me yearning to hear more, while her cover of Bring Me Horizon’s ‘Avalanche’ was executed to soul splitting perfection.

Tyne has the ability to combine meaningful lyrics with electronic rhythms without beating the life out of it like so many other artists do. She’s clearly destined for great things; I’d highly recommend catching her at a show and giving her a listen.

The next act couldn’t have been further from the last. COIN owned the stage for the next thirty minutes or so, belting out track after track of indie pop perfection. Their energy was intoxicating as singer, Chase Lawrence, cavorted across the stage, jumping on and off the drum kit to thrash out melodies on the synthesizers. The crowd adored it, dancing along to the summery beats of tracks like ‘Talk Too Much’. If the Arctic Monkeys and Circa Waves were to have a lovechild, then Nashville based COIN would be the result.

Then, finally… PVRIS. I’d heard mixed views of their live performances from friends and through work, and was really hoping for a show I could rave about for hours on end.

And to an extent, I could. Visually, the setup was stunning – strobe lights lit the stage while large screens projected flickering flames and embers as Lynn went to town on hits such as ‘St Patrick’ and ‘My House’. PVRIS’s setlist was varied enough to have a taste of their newer material from their latest release, All We Know Of Heaven, All We Need Of Hell, while still recalling back to tracks from White Noise.

However, Lynn’s gospel-like voice seemed to struggle at times against the heavy crescendo of guitar and drums from bandmates Alex and Brian. And although many members of the crowd were happy dancing at the front, I’d have enjoyed the show much more if I was sat up in the balcony of O2 Academy.

PVRIS more than made up for these few flaws, as I truly am nitpicking here. Their interaction with the crowd was heartfelt and genuine too, with Lynn exclaiming how, apart from at festivals, this was the largest crowd they had ever played to.

PVRIS @ O2 Academy Birmingham 23.11.17 / Eleanor Sutcliffe – Birmingham Review

For more on PVRIS, visit www.pvris.com

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COIN – supporting PVRIS @ O2 Academy Birmingham 23.11.17 / Eleanor Sutcliffe – Birmingham Review

For more on COIN, visit www.thisiscoin.com

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Tyne – supporting PVRIS @ O2 Academy Birmingham 23.11.17 / Eleanor Sutcliffe – Birmingham Review

For more on Tyne, visit www.officialtyne.com

For more from the O2 Academy Birmingham, including full event listings and online ticket sales, visit www.academymusicgroup.com/o2academybirmingham

November 25, 2017November 25, 2017

BPREVIEW: Notorious – 20th Anniversary Finale @ Town Hall 25.11.17

Words by Damien Russell

2017 marks the 20^th year of Notorious, Birmingham’s own alternative non-audition choir. Notorious have been celebrating with an impressive tour that reaches its peak at the Town Hall on Saturday 25^th November.

Tickets are priced at £18.00 (premium) or £12.00 (standard) with the standard booking fees. For direct event info, including venue details and online ticket sales, click here.

Notorious. A great name for a group that prides itself on doing things differently to the ‘norm’. They’re a group known for adventurous live performances including a ‘water-themed concert in a cave with the audience on barges’, a Halloween-themed concert in a coffin factory, and joining the Bishop of Birmingham at Lifford Lane tip ‘to promote not being wasteful at Christmas’. Notorious are also known for their unusual choral song choices, such as ‘Paranoid Android’ by Radiohead and ‘My Heart Will Go On’ by Celine Dion to name but two. Notorious also actively support new work and new composers and have even performed four works commissioned specifically for them – including ‘Mistletoe’ by Ēriks Ešenvalds.

Yet in a perhaps surprising move, the culmination of this year’s excitement is to be their most traditional-styled show to date. Town Hall is a natural choice for choral music with its marvelous acoustics and the pieces Notorious will perform are both Catholic in origin with one, ‘The Magnificat’ by John Rutter, being a musical setting of a biblical canticle and the other, ‘Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem’, the shortened Catholic Mass for the Dead in Latin.

Despite their cheery-sounding nature both pieces are recognised as being uplifting, with ‘The Magnificat’ described as ‘an outpouring of joy’ and, as Fauré himself said of Requiem, “it is thus that I see death: as a happy deliverance, an aspiration towards happiness above” so the (still early) lead-in to the holiday spirit seems sure not to be dampened here.

For those who have seen Notorious before and are now thinking ‘I know those pieces, I know the artists, I know what to expect’, there is one more twist for the event. The typically 35-strong choir will be bursting at the seams with its biggest ensemble of 75 members. I’m not sure where they’ll all fit on the Town Hall stage but where there’s Notorious, there’s a way. Something this creative choir have proven time and time again.

Founded by Clare Edwards back in 1997, the Birmingham-based choir set out to make ‘high-quality choral music that is accessible and can be enjoyed by anyone, regardless of background or previous experience’. Under Edwards’ musical direction, Notorious has grown from a tentative group of 15 singers to a 35-strong choir, performing more than 120 concerts in 65 different venues.

So, whether it’s because you love choral music and want to see it in a traditional setting, you love Notorious and want to celebrate their 20^th year in style, or you just want to find out what it might all be about, all are welcome to help this unique Birmingham choir blow out their 20 candles.

Do you think we should all sing them ‘Happy Birthday’ at the end? “And many more….”

‘Mistletoe’ – Notorious (performed at St John’s and St Peter’s Church 10.12.16)

‘Mistletoe’ was composed by Ēriks Ešenvalds with text from poem by Walter de la Mare – commissioned by Notorious to mark the choir’s 20th anniversary. Conducted by Clare Edwards.

Notorious end their 20^th year celebrations with a special performance at Birmingham’s Town Hall on Saturday 25^th November. For direct event info, including venue details and online ticket sales, click here.

For more on Notorious, visit www.notoriouschoir.org

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

November 24, 2017

LAST FEW TICKETS: Rews + The Hungry Ghosts + Ed Geater @ Actress & Bishop 25.11.17

Words by Ed King

IT’S CHRISSSSSSSMAAASSSSSS…

Well, kind of, bit of an obligatory catcall in Birmingham right now. But love it or loathe it (and as inescapable as the people crushing death trap that is the German Market) it’s ‘that time of year’ again.

And to kick Winterval in the proverbial sack (of presents… shame on you) on Saturday 25th November, Birmingham Review presents its Winter Showcase at the Actress & Bishop – a live gig with Rews, The Hungry Ghosts and Ed Geater.

Doors open at 8pm, music starts at 8:30pm, with tickets priced at £8 (advance) and £10 (on the door) plus booking fee. Tickets can still be bought via See Tickets until 12noon on Sat 25^th November – for online sales, visit www.seetickets.com/event/rews-the-hungry-ghosts-ed-geater/actress-and-bishop

**LAST FEW ADVANCE TICKETS REMAINING** You might well get in on the door (it might well cost you an extra two quid) and we might well jettison a table or two, but there are less advance tickets than can be counted on two hands. So hop, skip and jump people.

And in case you need a little nudge, here’s a speed dating introduction to each act we’ve got performing at the Birmingham Review Winter Showcase – with some useful links to boot. See you, and them, at the Actress & Bishop on Saturday 25th Nov.

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Rews

Rews and their infection ‘earworms’ crawled into our subconscious back in Feb, after a stellar gig at the Flapper. To read Damien Russell’s BREVIEW of the gig, click here – to read Ed King’s INTERVIEW with Rews just before they got on stage, click here. And it seems we weren’t the only ones to go a little batshit over Rews, as everyone from a Glastonbury baked Mark Radcliffe to a Huw Stephens have been championing the duo.

Rews have recently released their debut album too – the somewhat awesome Pyro. To read Ed King’s ALBUM review of Pyro, click here. And if you’re more audio than visual (or a little from Column A and a little from Column B), the check out Rews’ official video to ‘Your Tears’ – the lead single from Pyro.

‘Your Tears’ – Rews (taken from their forthcoming debut album, Pyro)

For more on Rews, visit www.rewsmusic.com

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The Hungry Ghosts

The Ghosts, The Ghosts, The Ghosts… Where to begin? If this band aren’t destroying the main stage at some greenfield site in the next few years then there is something SERIOUSLY WRONG with the universe. The kings and queen of slaughterhouse blues, ferocious and phenomenal on stage (and often off, for part of the set at least) The Hungry Ghosts are one of the most exciting bands playing in the Midlands today. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again.

But seeing (and hearing) is believing, so get yourself to the Actress & Bishop on Saturday 25th Nov and bear witness to this first hand. Meanwhile, amongst the coyotes and shadows of an unforgiving prairie…

‘Amerika’ – The Hungry Ghosts

For more on The Hungry Ghosts, visit www.thehungryghosts.co.uk

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Ed Geater

I felt more than a little sheepish asking Ed Geater to play the ‘support’ slot at our Winter Showcase, but he graciously didn’t flinch and said yes. So we poker faced it and casually sent him a Booking Confirmation. Playing it cool…

Beatboxer, singer songwriter, possibly Birmingham’s best collaborator, and a proper, PROPER performer – Ed Geater is a unique gem that this city should be proud to call one of their own. The Birmingham Review Winter Showcase will be Ed Geater‘s last gig for ‘a while’, as he’s hibernating to concentrate on some new material (… fe, fi, fo, fum, I smell the blood of an album) and we are uber excite to get this man on a stage we’re promoting. Playing first, make sure you get there for doors open at 8pm – you do not want to miss a minute of Ed Geater.

‘Don’t Think’ – Ed Geater

For more on Ed Geater, visit www.edgeater.co.uk

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Birmingham Review presents its Winter Showcase at the Actress & Bishop on Saturday 25^th November with Rews, The Hungry Ghosts and Ed Geater.

Advance tickets are priced at £8 (+bf) and can still be bought via See Tickets until 12noon on Sat 25^th – for online sales, click here.

For more from the Actress & Bishop, including venue details and links to event, visit www.facebook.com/Actressandbishop

November 22, 2017November 22, 2017

INTERVIEW: Lydia Brookes – Singing for Supper @ The Castle & Falcon 24.11.17

Words by Ed King / Pics courtesy of Lush Birmingham

On Friday 24^th November, The Castle and Falcon in Balsall Heath will be hosting Singing for Supper, a live gig with a somewhat stellar line up – You Dirty Blue, Sofa King, Alfresco Love Sounds, The Chalet Lines will all be performing for only a £5.50 door charge. For online ticket sales, click here.

With each act worth the ticket price to just see them on stage, you’ve got three. Not a bad way to spend your money on Black Friday.

But it gets better. Singing for Supper has been organised by the Lush Birmingham soap store to raise money for The Night Shelter – a Coventry based “safe place” that “provides aid to refugees, asylum seekers and refused asylum seekers – people with no recourse to public funds, which means they’re not entitled to any benefits or any help.”

Birmingham Review caught up with Lydia Brookes, one of the Singing for Supper promoters and a ‘Lush Ambassador’, to ask what made them foray into the world of music promotions on arguably the busiest retail day of the year.

“Homelessness is a huge problem,” explains Brookes, “we see ‘rooflessness’ every single day. It’s an issue close to our hearts at Lush and we wanted to work with this charity (The Night Shelter) because they’re part of such an important community resource”. The Night Shelter is one of the services of support available at the Coventry Peace House, a collection of renovated terrace houses that work on a portfolio of charitable endevours – including projects “to make the area more environmentally friendly, to give people safe spaces and places to learn,” tells Brookes. “We care a lot about this organisation because it’s so small but it’s doing so much. It’s quite unique and we really got behind their ethos”.

But this event is looking at a broader problem than just homelessness, which in itself is a growing killer on the bitter cold streets of the UK. Lush Rocks, a name born from the retailers move into charitable music promotions, hopes their Singing for Supper gig on Friday 24^th November will help raise both “money and public awareness” for the plight of those lost in the UK’s immigration cracks, whilst encouraging “people to think about the choices they’re make in and help in any way they can”.

“People sometimes don’t realise that asylum seekers aren’t allowed to work, or claim benefits, until their case has been heard,” explains Brookes, “so refused asylum seekers essentially have no options. Only if they’re in an absolute destitution can they apply for funds and even then it’s not guaranteed. The Night Shelter gives the people a warm place to sleep, it gives them beds, its gives people access to showers and hot meals.”

And what about the school of thought that is more anti-immigration to begin with? This is a prevalent issue in the UK, but one that can receive more divided and divisive attention than just straightforward compassion. “We respect everyone’s views,” tells Brookes, “but it’s worth remembering that a good deal of asylum seeker cases that are initially refused then get granted on appeal – and these are cases that should have been granted in the first place, with the administrations going back to them saying ‘you do have a viable claim and this should have been previously granted.’ Whatever your views are on asylum seekers and destitute refugees, we need to treat them as human beings. We have to view people as people, first and foremost.”

But charitable endevours aside, Singing for Supper is a gig simply well worth the door charge – especially with You Dirty Blue on the bill, a Tamworth alt-rock two piece who recently supported Wolf Alice on the first day of their UK tour and are pegged for big and bright things in 2018.

“We’re really excited,” explains Brookes, “especially about The Chalet Lines as it’s the solo act from one of the Lush Birmingham staff (Joseph Parker). Sofa King have a really funky vibe to them and we also got Alfresco Love Sounds. Then there’s You Dirty Blue who won’t be playing in small venues for long… this will be a good chance to see them in an ‘intimate’ setting.”

With all the acts “doing it voluntarily”, Singing for Supper at The Castle and Falcon on Friday 24^th November should be able to raise a decent chunk of change for The Night Shelter – a support service that is especially pertinent at this time of year.

And if you are fighting your way to bargain blissteria this Friday, Lush Birmingham are also asking for donations of “non-perishable food items with a high energy content, things like jam and sugar. Also simple toiletries, so toothpaste, tooth brushes, toilet roll. And blankets. Just think ‘if I had to get buy on very few things, what would I need’”.

It’s almost as if this time of year isn’t just about shopping for yourself…

Singing for Supper comes to The Castle & Falcon on Friday 24^th November, with You Dirty Blue, Sofa Kings, Alfresco Love Sounds and The Chalet Lines performing – as presented by Lush Rocks (from the Ambassadors Team at Lush Birmingham).

All money raised from the gig will go to support The Night Shelter at the Coventry Peace House – a shelter for refugees, asylum seekers and people who have ‘no recourse to public funds’. For online gig ticket sales, click here.

For more on The Night Shelter, visit www.naccom.org.uk/members/peace-house-night-shelter/

For more on Coventry Peace House, visit www.coventrypeacehouse.wixsite.com/coventry-peace-house

For more from The Castle & Falcon, including venue details and online ticket sales, visit www.castleandfalcon.com

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Lush Birmingham are also looking for donations of non-perishable food items, toiletries and FMCGs such as sugar, breakfast cereal, rice, jam, toothbrushes, toothpaste, cooking oil, instant coffee, toilet roll, or washing powder.

If you can’t attend the Lush Rock Singing for Supper event at The Castle & Falcon on Friday 24^th Nov, donations can be sent to the Lush Ambassadors Team at: Lush Birmingham, 23 New St, Birmingham B2 4RQ

To find out more about Lush Birmingham, visit www.uk.lush.com/shop/birmingham

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To learn more about the problems faced by asylum seekers coming to the UK and people who are ‘No Recourse to Public Funds’, please visit the following website for the Birmingham based Asylum Support and Immigration Resource Team (ASIRT) www.asirt.org.uk