Words by Emily Talbot
Saturday 24th October saw Storms perform at The Sunflower Lounge in Birmingham, with support from Lois & The Love.
I was somewhat apprehensive about this gig review; it was my first for Birmingham Review, and I was going alone after a long shift at work. I was expecting to feel tired throughout.
On arrival I saw The Sunflower Lounge had attracted quite a large audience, who all seemed to really get into the bands; we were set for a high energy show. Although saying that, the night felt cut somewhat short due to the fact there were only two bands playing. And considering I was waiting longer for Lois & The Love to start than the time their performance actually lasted, I was a left little bit disappointed.
However Lois & The Love are clearly a confident bunch who have an amazing stage presence. The eponymous lead singer was your typical Rock Chick; despite having laryngitis, as well as going out the night before, she put on an amazing show. Her sketchy, self described “crack whore” voice was a fitting accompaniment to the band’s edgy instrumentals and synthetic Grunge vibe.
Storms performance was lively too; energetic and charismatic. They are a band well suited to The Sunflower Lounge, due to their Rock & Roll appearance and Geek Rock sound. But one thing that stood out about Storms was the contrast of voices between the two lead singers – with George Runciman’s somewhat Americanised vocals accompanying the more grizzly and coarse of his band mate’s.
Furthermore, the distorted guitar in many of their tracks created a crooked, yet well polished sound that worked well throughout their set. I particularly enjoyed the performances of their released tracks, including ‘Girl’ and ‘Shame’, with ‘Special’ also performed a little louder and heavier than the others.
However outside of these better known tracks the other songs in their set felt more like fillers, with no hard hitting beat or anything outstanding. On one hand this meant I enjoyed the songs I knew more, relishing that little extra edge. But on the other hand, it left me feeling a little bit distracted elsewhere in their set. However I may be alone in that opinion as band members from Lois & The Love boldly, flamboyantly, comically danced away at the front of the crowd for the majority of Storms’ set.
Overall, Storms delivered songs with a Grunge/Rock & Roll vibe that show that this band is capable of great music – just not consistently throughout their set, this gig. And as for my concerns over flagging energy levels…
For more on Storms, visit http://stormsband.com/
For more from Lois & The Love, visit http://loisandthelove.com/
For more from The Sunflower Lounge, visit http://thesunflowerlounge.com/
For more form Birmingham Promoters, visit http://birminghampromoters.com/
