On Friday 21 October audiences are welcomed into The Edge, a former boiled sweet warehouse tucked away in Cheapside. A fire roars in an empty oil drum outside, the woodsmoke mingling with the smell of the vetkoek cooking indoors. The venue feels like an antique shop, with mismatched wingback armchairs and bean bags dotted around the space.
Settling in for the evening’s entertainment, with an ale from the amply stocked bar, feels like being welcomed into the living room of an eccentric, well-travelled aunt. Our host Judy Brush (who bears an uncanny likeness to local songwriter, and all round good egg Anna Palmer, of Dorcha and Pretty Grim fame) opens proceedings with their sixteen-minute experimental opus, ‘Return of the Bean Birds’.
A collaboration with artist Luke Humphries, who wrote the words, the piece veers between shimmering ambience, and agitated synthetic disco – which seems symptomatic of the time it was written (hello, lockdown one). Brush is magnetic, selling the spoken word passages with calculated comic timing before launching into impressive vocal acrobatics.
They treat us to more bite-sized compositions later in the evening, a clever mixture of backing track and live-looped guitar, and vocals that shows them not only to be a formidable performer, but an inspired musician to boot.
Avant-punk songwriter Howie Reeve begins his set perched on a chair onstage with his feet resting on their own little fold out platform, noodling away on an acoustic bass. The pose lends him an impish energy, which only becomes more exaggerated as he wanders among the crowd later in the set, climbing onto chairs and into the lap of Leonore Boulanger’s guitarist.
He demands audience participation in the form of improvised beats and vocal drones, and serenades individuals with music-hall mischief: “It’s the a capella section/it’s giving you all an erection…”.
Returning to the stage, Reeve is at his best when showcasing his percussive, finger picked bass skills, his playful lyricism still shining through.
The Léonore Boulanger trio have filled the stage with assorted instruments ahead of their set, including (but not limited to) a shakuhachi, a slide whistle, a Casio SA-46, and a toy megaphone. The trio fuse different flavours of jazz and folk in a way that’s poppy and playful.
The ever-evolving instrumentation gives their sound a chaotic texture, but it’s all held together by the trio’s jazz discipline.
Jean-Daniel Botta’s intricate guitar work and Laurent Sériès’ inventive percussion underpin Boulanger’s vocals, which swing from the ethereal to the animalistic. It’s a real treat to see this ingenious act in such an intimate venue.
On 8 October, the week Birmingham cinephiles had been counting down to finally got underway at the Midlands Arts Centre (MAC). For the first time, the British Film Institute has gone national with the London Film Festival, screening films in several partner venues across the UK – including Birmingham.
Seeing as tickets for the London screenings were gold dust, I’d pounced at the chance to catch new films from some of the world’s best directors, weeks, even months, before general release. As I hurried downhill from Moseley towards MAC, I felt like a child on Christmas morning.
Over the next week I would be seeing five critically acclaimed, provocative works that promised to be anything but boring. It was raining over MAC so the stars weren’t exactly out, but the excitement in the air was palpable for Noah Baumbach’s long awaited White Noise.
White Noise is an absurd, blackly funny film. As a fan of Don DeLillo’s famously weird 1985 novel, rightly seen as unfilmable, I’d worried that director Noah Baumbach may have bitten off more than he could chew. My apprehension was dispelled immediately – this is a hilarious and deeply frightening film. Baumbach’s editorial flourishes are small but impactful; we trust him, and the unwieldy source material never feels beyond his control.
It is a stellar pick to kick off the week, and I loved it. Next up? Ruben Östlund’s Triangle of Sadness, one of the hottest tickets of the festival.
I was immediately struck by just how young the crowd was, with only a scattering of free seats and a buzzing energy in the cinema. While MAC generally attracts a more reserved clientele, this crowd was much more Custard Factory via Hurst Street, if you catch my drift.
With the opening moments of the film drily lambasting Balenciaga before blasting M.I.A’s ‘Born Free’, we settled in for a wild ride. And, Östlund certainly gave us one. The film is a brutal takedown of post #MeToo gender roles, and a savage critique of the uber-rich, holidaying aboard a luxurious yacht.
A centrepiece dinner scene shows one of the most shocking sequences from any film in my recent memory.
As the guests gorge themselves on caviar, the ship itself goes haywire, buckling under the weight of the gluttons aboard. It’s a shit-soaked, vomit-drenched farce; excrement explodes from toilets, half-digested oysters coat the walls. I’ve never heard an audience react so viscerally, so vocally, to a film before – they applaud, then wretch, then cheer.
Shit flowed as bodies tumbled down marble staircases. This is hell as rendered by Picasso, a headlong stumble into a Buñuelian abyss. Subtle? No. Some of the most fun you’ll have in a cinema this year? Absolutely.
13 October saw a sell-out screening of Martin McDonagh’s The Banshees of Inisherin – a tale of a friendship abruptly halted. To give any more away would do this film a disservice. McDonagh is a master, and he mines a rich vein of distinctly Irish strangeness here, one that Beckett exposed but has since gone untouched.
There were plenty of Irish accents in the crowd – as a proud member of Brum’s Irish community, I found it moving to watch the new film from one of Ireland’s biggest Hollywood exports surrounded by its diaspora.
We were also treated to a short film from Midlands-based director Theo James Krekis, called Pram Snatcher. The crowd clearly enjoyed it, and whilst Krekis has only done short films before, describing Pram Snatcher as a proof of concept for a full feature length film, he also lectures in directing at the Screen and Film School Birmingham.
I hope the wait isn’t too long for Kerkis’ next because Pram Snatcher establishes him as a director to watch.
Over the final weekend, we were shown two films which subverted the detective genre in canny and ingenious ways. An acolyte of South Korean cinema, my friend Mat was giddy with excitement before Park Chan-wook’s Decision to Leave, a film about a detective becoming dangerously entangled with a woman accused of killing her husband. It’s a sleek Hitchcockian thriller that’s also, oddly, one of the most romantic films of the year.
It is gorgeously composed and framed, with a puzzle box complexity. Watch this one twice to catch all the clues.
Puzzle boxes also feature in Glass Onion, the bigger but not necessarily better follow-up to 2019’s hit Knives Out. Before the sold-out screening, a pre-recorded intro from director Rian Johnson begged us not to share any spoilers whatsoever before the film’s Christmas release, and I have no desire to incur the wrath of Netflix so I’m remaining tight-lipped.
I will say that Daniel Craig is on great form as detective Benoit Blanc. But the film is Janelle Monáe’s; a performance of quiet fury, I couldn’t take my eyes off her. The crowd went wild for this one – what an end to a brilliant week.
Covid-19 had a catastrophic effect on the UK cinema industry. If the multiplexes were limping, the indies were practically crawling. According to David Baldwin – MAC’s cinema and screen producer – September 2022 was their busiest month since reopening post-pandemic. There is clearly still work to be done in rebuilding audiences, but hopefully this heralds better days ahead.
MAC had the most consistently busy cinema I’ve seen in a very long time, and I feel truly lucky to have been given the opportunity to preview, and write about these films.
See them, love them, even hate them. Just don’t watch them on a laptop, because every single film screened made an urgent and powerful case for the vitality and importance of the collective, cinematic experience.
You can watch White Noise on Netflix on the 30 December. You can also see Triangle of Sadness released in UK cinemas on the 28 October, and The Banshees of Inisherin is in UK cinemas now – so is Decision To Leave. Glass Onion releases on Netflix on the 23 December, with screenings in selected cinemas from the 23 November.
Birmingham’s best promoter knows how to put on a show, delivering eight hours of tempting riffs on 15 October. In the words of openers Wiiince, “what else would you be doing on a Saturday afternoon?”
The whole offering takes place at The Crossing, a six-hundred capacity venue that This Is Tmrw have been making their city centre home of late – at least when it’s not a school night. During the week the venue serves as part of the campus for South and City College.
The undeniable school canteen surroundings are effectively dressed up with eye-burning bright visuals, courtesy of local legend Lewes Herriot. Market stalls from local creatives Sleep Sparrow, and Rotunda Industries jostle for attention, with the growing queue for Bop Kebabs generating a proper festival buzz amongst Digbeth’s unrelenting roadworks.
It has to be said that the bar situation is also very festival-esque; while inflation might account for the five-pound cans of Red Stripe, making guests empty water bottles and chuck unopened soft drinks on the door and not providing any tap water inside the venue seems a little uncharitable.
A thread of palatable indie-rock runs through the program. Plucky popsters Wiiince kick off the event with some endearing indie-pop, almost as sugary sweet as Porridge Radio on the main stage later on.
Chichester comeback kids TRAAMS take things in a more robust direction with their motorik return to the This Is Tmrw stage.
Meanwhile, The Lounge Society cement their reputation as ‘up-and-coming’ with an energised set of post-punk, complete with instrument swapping and dance moves to rival Jarvis Cocker from vocalist Cameron Davey.
Birmingham’s own Brian Lightning is perhaps the only performer to one up Davey, interspersing his sparkly lounge pop with magic tricks and costume changes.
A counterpoint to all the jangly riffs and melodic vocals is a gloriously heavy set from Spits Milk. The noise-punk supergroup – which count members of Distophia, Calories, Burning Alms, Sunshine Frisbee Lazerbeam, Mothertrucker and Opium Lord among their ranks- have been making a real name for themselves since their 2021 debut.
Equally refreshing is Sinead O’Brien, who’s post-punk poetry writhes on a bed of woozy synth-rock.
Keg are another wildcard. With trombone parping away at the centre of their agitated art-punk sound, comparisons to Cardiacs are inevitable. But tonight they show themselves to be gleefully, danceably weird in their own right.
Black Mekon need no introduction round these parts, and their packed out headline set on the Weird On Purpose stage goes to show why.
The duo storm through their back catalogue of grotty garage rock jams without pausing for breath. Shrieking harmonica and purring “Mekonizer” segue perfectly into the mangled noise rock riffs on the main stage.
Dublin’s Gilla Band (formerly “Girl Band”) draw the night to a heroic close, peppering fan favourites ‘Pears For Lunch’ and their inspired cover of ‘Why They Hide Their Bodies Under My Garage’ with new material that, if less familiar, is just as arresting.
The whole set is a highly textured audio assault that’s sure to blow the cobwebs away from even the weariest ears.
I stare up looking at the bright lights beaming off the O2 Institute Birmingham, but not for too long ‘cos it’s chucking it down. There are loud noises already vibrating off the venue and people everywhere trying to find which room their ticket grants them access to.
Upstairs we go ready and raring to see The Amazons.
My first impression when opening the door is that it is packed. Literally packed, and the set shows no signs of starting yet. But, hey ho let’s grab a refreshment.
After battling my way to the bar, I return to my previous spot because there’s nowhere else to stand. It is not a good night to be five foot three.
Stepping forward ever so slightly, I find myself in a cheeky spot where I can just about see everything going on in the room. Everyone seems up for it, singing along to each indie banger that’s played by The Novus to fire us up before the set starts.
One in particular that gets everyone singing along is ‘Lonely Boy’ by The Black Keys, what a great choice for this brummie crowd on a Saturday night.
An intense but electrifying guitar riff signals to the crowd it’s that time… here comes the headline act, and The Amazons’ set kicks off with one of the band’s latest tracks – ‘How Will I Know?’
The sound is strong and consistent, a mix of powerful vocals, clattering drums and the soulful tone of the guitar. Our opener seems well received by the crowd who’ve obviously done their research and are singing along with the frontman.
Casting my mind way back to 2017, the band launches into ‘Ultraviolet’. I remember listening to this one while doing my A Levels and I love this track even more right now. Seeing and hearing it played in front of my very eyes brings back this feeling of nostalgia and surely that’s what a good band does, right?
Throughout this track the atmosphere is clearly at its highest peak so far with pints being launched into the air and groups jumping arm in arm.
All this atmosphere is mirrored with the stage as the band are giving everything they have to their instruments, the sheer strength in every chord…
As the band launches into ‘In My Mind’, it’s a complete rush. The gritty sounds of these guitar riffs are almost ripping open the ceiling of the O2 Institute and they have full backing from the drums that are being bashed to death,
All this energy is projected onto the crowd who are completely fixated by the band singing along with them, especially with the lyrics “baby in my mind”.
As the night goes on we’re given more and more great songs, including a few covers too. Towards the end of the set I’m trying to count up how many tracks have been played but I’m really not sure, there’s been so many.
Even with this plethora of tracks it’s no surprise that we’re finishing this Saturday night set on ‘Black Magic’.
The guitar riff to kick this one off is well received by our brummie crowd who’ve now all started to bash into one and another. Each vocal is sung with complete strength and precision – in fact they’ve shown no signs of faltering all night.
As we launch into our final chorus, everyone and their nan has now joined in singing the lyrics:
“Black magic / Come on / Just let me on, now I believe”
The track and the evening finish on another relentless riff and that’s it. What a band, what a night. O2 Institute you already know I’ll be back.
Soul Sessions, I’m back. On the evening of Wednesday 12 October, after a long day at Uni I am ready for my bed. So, I am praying to the universe for an exciting event at The Night Owl.
Speaking to those of you who have visited the female loos in The Night Owl, I hope I am not the only one with trouble deciding which closed door is the exit. Thankfully, a kind young woman comes to my rescue and shows me the way out. Unbeknown to me, this helpful girl is in fact the soulful goddess, Olivia Wilkes, who occupies this Soul Sessions lineup’s ‘Guest Spot’.
If you couldn’t tell, Wilkes also ends up being my favourite musician of the evening.
Once I am past the surprise of bumping into Wilkes, I am struck by the vocal discipline of this acoustic guitarist/singer. The emotion in her voice is up there with the most experienced of vocalists and I can tell that when she sings she is entirely in her own world.
‘Ain’t no Sunshine’ by Bill Withers, ‘Skinny Love’ by Bon Iver, and ‘Addicted to You’ by Avicii make up her short set but all three are clearly handpicked to create a tender and bittersweet show.
My biggest regrets for this set are that it hasn’t lasted longer and that there aren’t more people around to witness it.
Next up, is a band perhaps for the more mature crowd – The Woebeatides. Their set is very loud and very heavy so seems a little out of place at Soul Sessions, however their experience and showmanship certainly shows through in how tight and confident they are as a three-piece band.
I am vibing with the bassist all the way through their original ‘Hellraiser’ which was “written in 20 minutes on the 55 bus”, and especially through the monster bassline in ‘I spy a lie’.
This band is afforded two encores after already having played six songs; even if I think this is too many, the audience is on their feet, screaming along to each and every lyric.
Gaby Kettle and her four accompanying musicians are on now and immediately we are taken away to a jazzy, funky land where sitting down and not singing along are illegal. Not only is Kettle a talented vocalist whose powerful voice demands the respect of the band, she is also hilarious and has witty and comforting chats with the audience.
All six of her songs are originals and they all have some pretty complex aspects like the mirroring between bass and vocals in the third song, and the various guitar and keys solos.
The set ends with a somewhat improvised cover of ‘No Diggity’ by Blackstreet featuring Dr. Dre and Queen Pen, which sends the crowd wild – everyone is singing and dancing along; it seems no one wants it to end.
Afterwards, Collective Sleep comes to the stage and performs a set entirely made up of originals. Every one of them is skillfully played and sung in its own right. However, I begin to notice certain chord and melody patterns coming up in each song which make them sound a little too similar.
The singer’s cry tone fits nicely over the guitar tones because it stands out, although I can’t help feeling like it becomes a little too much for too long – if he were to allow his deeper register to show through, he may be able to maintain control over his riffing and create a warmer, rounder tone.
Regardless, all the songs are extremely popular with the audience and a growing number of dancers emerge before the stage.
Although I didn’t get to see The Repercussions because of the trains, their YouTube channel is definitely worth a visit – link below.
