Author: birminghamreview

Words by Althea Patterson, pics by Lucy Heath

Breezing into the Symphony Hall Café Bar drenched and frozen as the band tuned up with ‘New York City Rain’, felt very appropriate. But I soon forgot my worries as an abundance of children skipped around their parent’s feet and the band supped pints of bitter whilst chatting with friends. It was relaxed and calm, like a family reunion.

Looking like a flat-capped and fresh eyed Joe Cocker, Chris Tye bopped on stage and introduced his band before getting straight to business. ‘Walking In the Sun’, a certain nod to the British obsession with weather, was an easy bluegrass tinged harmonious track that set the tone nicely.  Two little girls in the audience swirled and danced to ‘Breakdown’; both them and the song emphasised by the myriad of Christmas lights shining in from outside.

Tye’s vocals were further complimented by the accompaniment of his band mate, a woman who’s name I failed to catch, but together their voices swam with rich ease. ‘What more Can I Say’ was a beautiful example of soft vocal synergy.

After throwing in a funkier version of ‘Letter to Hermionie’, one I’m sure The Thin White Duke would be happy with, Tye’s pianist, Simon Davis, also had a moment in the spotlight with the self penned ‘Last Man’. It struck that I was in the presence of real arrangers; this band were stuffed with talent, who wrote and performed songs that evoked both walking through hip high grass on a summer’s day to skating and swooshing on ice in winter. . . *goes a bit wistful*

But for an intimate band, who’s voices express so candidly, you don’t want them punctuated with other peoples conversations and loud mobile phone ring tones. Twice the loudness of the venue almost drowned out Tye’s voice on ‘The Paper Plane’, which he performed as encore. These noisy intrusions were the only downside of the evening; one that showed off a talented singer, composer and honorary Brummie.

Chris Tye deserves a better audience, perhaps in my garden on a hot summers day with a few friends and a few more cold bottles – where I could happily listen to him sing all day. But only if all mobiles are turned down a notch or three thousand.

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For more on Chris Tye, visit http://christye.co.uk

For more on the Folk for Free events, held in partnership with the Moseley Folk Festival, visit http://www.thsh.co.uk/tour-dates/folk-for-free

For more events at the Town & Symphony Hall, visit http://www.thsh.co.uk

Above promo pic by (we believe) Steven Gerrard

Playing two homecoming Christmas shows, The Twang will be performing at The Rainbow Warehouse on 22^nd & 23^rd Dec – brought to you by Birmingham Promoters.

Support comes from Warm Brains & Wide Eyed on Dec 22^nd, and Jaws & The Grafham Water Sailing Club on Dec 23^rd.

The extended Rainbow bill (at the time of writing, there were only tickets available for Dec 22^nd) is the first time The Twang have played in Birmingham for a while, and precedes an 11 date UK Feb tour where the closest show to home will be in Stoke.

On the road with a new album, set for release in Jan 2014, December’s gigs at The Rainbow will be the first outing for The Twang’s new material.

Formed in 2001, originally performing under the name Neon Twang, The Twang’s first single came in the shape of ‘Wide Awake’ – an anthemic Indie Rock track over Etheridge’s raw vocals. Three months and a fair bit of media attention later, and The Twang’s debut album, Love It When I Feel Like This, reached No3 in the UK album charts.

Then two years later, The Twang’s second album, Jewellery Quarter, would reach a respectable No20 in the UK album charts – with it’s first single, ‘Barney Rubble’, remaining one of the band’s most notable releases.

And despite never replicating the commercial attention/success of their debut album, The Twang have remained fervently supported by their fans; selling out limited run releases and venues through word of mouth fan focused publicity.

Coming back to Birmingham for two ‘long-awaited homecoming’ shows, The Twang’s December gigs at The Rainbow mark a pertinent return from some of the city’s Indie Rock stalwarts.

Heather (Hades) Judge will be there for a Birmingham Review.

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The Twang will be performing at The Rainbow Warehouse on 22^nd & 23^rd Dec. For more info & tickets (Dec 22^nd only), visit http://birminghampromoters.com/Events/the-twang-2/

For more on The Twang, visit http://www.thetwang.co.uk/

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For more from Birmingham Promoters, visit http://birminghampromoters.com

For more on The Rainbow Venues, visit http://www.therainbowvenues.co.uk/

Pic by Katie Foulkes – from Hot Club de Swing Festival Tea Party, June 21st

2013 has arguably been the year of Electro Swing, and closing it off with a big Christmas bash is Hot Club de Swing – taking over the entire top floor of the Hare & Hounds on Friday 20^th Dec.

Headlining Room One will be the Electric Swing Circus, the brainchildren behind the Hot Club de Swing club nights and Swingamajig Festival, with a C@in the H@ and Jenova Collective in support.

Room Two will become The Swing Dance Speakeasy, where promoters promise ‘a place to relax or to get your Lindy Hop, Jive or Balboa on.’ And thanks to Wikipedia Birmingham Review can inform potential punters that Balboa ‘is danced primarily in close embrace, and is led with a full body connection.’ Sounds like fun.

Hot Club de Swing has been providing the city with an Electro Swing platform for a while now – Birmingham Review first paying them a visit back in June, for their Festival Tea Party.

Fervently endorsed, the Electro Swing bubble seems far from bursting in Birmingham too; and Hot Club’s crowd, as with the debut Swingamajig Festival, continuously rise to the occasion. Dapper dance floor seems to be the dress code, with a Cotton Club touch of sequin, sparkle and shuffle to push the night along. How accessible this is to someone who can’t pull off the Swingers Dance Scene, Birmingham Review could not fully tell you; but if there’s a redheaded Heather Graham in the crowd it’s probably worth finding out.

Hot Club de Swing takes over the top floor of the Hare & Hounds on Friday 20^th Dec, for a Xmas Spectacular of ‘Electro Swing and Speakeasy Jazz, along with cabaret performances and something that is just that little bit special.’

Althea Patterson will be there for a Birmingham Review – with pics from Carlie Ann Hare.

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For more on the Hot Club de Swing Xmas Spectacular, including online ticket purchases, visit http://hareandhoundskingsheath.co.uk/event-listings/event/?eventID=10029133

For more on Electric Swing Circus, visit http://www.electricswingcircus.com/

For more on Hot Club de Swing, visit https://www.facebook.com/hotclubdeswing

For more on the Swingamajig festival, visit http://swingamajig.co.uk/

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For more gigs at the Hare & Hounds, visit http://hareandhoundskingsheath.co.uk/event-listings/

Birmingham Review has been Sliding Doors with Chris Tye for months, but Thursday 19^th December sees the Birmingham singer/songwriter perform in the Symphony Hall Café Bar as part of the venue’s Folk for Free programme.

Last missed (by us) supporting Louise Petit at the Ort Café in August, Chris Tye has been a solid figure in Birmingham’s music scene for several years. His self titled ‘gorgeous indie-folk with a city-dwelling, carefree romanticism’ has earned him positive word of mouth and sets on various stages across the city.

A familiar face at The Glee Club, Tye’s acoustic laden Folk (or ‘gorgeous indie-folk’ even) has supported the likes of Stephen, Fionn Regan and Ben Howard; the latter at the aforementioned city centre venue. Markus Sargaent, The Glee Club’s long standing music promoter, even supported this ‘highly engaging artist’ with a rousing quote as endorsement; not often you see the word ‘lachrymose’ in the public domain.

Chris Tye’s debut album, Somewhere Down the Line, was released in 2006 on Headwrecker Records – the London based independent. His follow up EP, Matchbox Stand, was self released five years later from Tim Bidwell’s Brighton based studio; with a digital download EP, No Hands Please, following in 2012.

N.B. To access a free download of ‘Forever for the Better’, from Matchbox Stand, click here

Chris Tye will be playing at the Symphony Hall Café Bar on Thursday 19^th December, as part of the venue’s Folk for Free programme; event starts at 5:30pm, entry is free, expect Folk.

Althea Patterson will be there for a Birmingham Review – with pics by Lucy Heath.

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For more on Chris Tye, visit http://christye.co.uk

For more on the Folk for Free events, held in partnership with the Moseley Folk Festival, visit http://www.thsh.co.uk/tour-dates/folk-for-free

Words by Althea Patterson / pics by Katja Ogrin

As an original Indie kid of the 1990’s, I feel Peace are stealing from MY era. Suede, Radiohead, Inspiral Carpets, Mudhoney, and further back to Talking Heads and Curiosity Killed the Cat; they’re not a band without obvious, if not anachronistic, peer comparison.

And whilst the 90’s may be over, tonight the O2 Academy is again heavy with sweat and teenage beer fuelled angst; ready for the new Indie king’s biggest hometown gig to date. Peace are already in full swing and feeling pretty accomplished; groomed to look dishevelled, with colour co-ordinated stage set with mini peace signs (geddit?). Was this the same band that made such fey videos I’ve been watching all week?

On the ground, teenagers mingle comfortably with members of the congregation who remember their aforementioned influences first time around. Jade, a 20 yr old student, gushes Peace are “Electrically soothing,” before dashing off to join the thrall of the pit. Sophie, 24, beams “They’re alive! Way better than they were at Glastonbury; their real fans are here”.

And it would appear so, with the crowd’s devotion exploding after Peace pop off stage right for a short breather – returning to much handclapping and the teasing, growling bass of my favourite track of the night, the Binary Finary cover ‘1998 (Delicious)’.

Surly pint supping teens rock and bounce to ‘Wraith’, almost as easily as their weak kneed elders. Whist every track meets with applause, cheers, and forceful crowd surfing; the mob spewing sweat drenched danced out lads to the outskirts of the room.  Then, as befitting their homecoming, a tickertape bursts into the air before ‘California Dreams’, bringing a bit of Fred Neil hippy dippy trippy to downtown December Brum.

On the negative, there could have been more in the way of crowd interaction, and I felt image was uppermost – the phrase ‘We Are Serious Artists’ comes to mind.

And whilst geeing up a crowd may not come easy to some, it feels as if Peace’s front man, Harrison Kossier, is relying on prompts in between cultivating his cool on stage persona. His crowd conversations sound clichéd, and dare I say scripted to appear between particular songs. Long live spontaneity eh? But the nearby merchandise stall was doing a roaring trade in £30 Peace hoodies, ironically enough.

After a great rendition of ‘Last Christmas’, that would have had George Michael swerving off the road in happiness, Peace thank the crowd and end on ‘Bloodshake’ – turning the O2 Academy into a mini Glastonbury Festival.

As Peace’s set ends, an air of love fills the venue’s main room – an audience appreciation possibly assisted by the contraband being not -so-subtly distributed by shady geezers in sportswear and Trimm Trabs.

My goodness. Perhaps the 90’s really are back…

For more on Peace, visit http://peaceforeverever.co.uk/

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For more event listings at the O2 Academy Birmingham, visit http://www.o2academybirmingham.co.uk/

For more from Birmingham Promoters, visit http://birminghampromoters.com/