Category: BPreviews

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BPREVIEW: The Sunset Beach Hut @ Mama Roux’s 21.12.17

Words by  Aatish Ramchurn

On Thursday 21st December, Sonic Gun Concerts present indie/pop act The Sunset Beach Hut at Mama Roux’s in Digbeth, with support from Quinn, Junior Weeb and Miss World. Doors open from 7pm, with tickets priced at £6.60 (inc bf) – for direct gig info and links to online ticket sales, click here.

Sonic Gun Concerts showcase their penultimate gig of 2017 with The Sunset Beach Hut headlining an evening of emerging talent within the West Midlands indie/alternative scene.

Starting the evening will be acoustic duo, Miss World. Having made their online debut in September this year Miss World are the night’s new kids on the block, albeit one who have already had a headline performance at the O2 Institute in October. With the promise of a mix of their own material and “classic bangers”, it will be interesting to see what has so quickly captured the interest of local promoters.

Next up are Junior Weeb, an indie/alternative quartet from Droitwich who have previously shared stages with Muncie Girls and The Americas, as well as being part of the line up at this year’s Worcester Music Festival. Junior Weeb were also in Baddies Boogie Top 20 Tracks of 2016, playing as the headlining act for the local indie promoter’s 2nd Magic Garden Records Night at the O2 Institute 3. So, a busy 18 months then. And with the promise of new material being recorded, Junior Weeb are likely to have a few fresh songs to add into their now seasoned set and should be an exciting addition to the lineup.

Described in our Birmingham Review of their September gig with Semantics as looking ‘like a fresher’s party at five in the morning’ but ‘with languid melodies disguised by fast paced distortion and an unashamed rock outlook on life’, the main support comes from Quinn – who will performing tracks from their debut EP, Seems Fine. Gaining acclaim with their ‘superstar in the making’ frontman Sam Lambeth, Quinn are band that offer a show that ‘sparkles from head to toe’ so let’s see how they shine on 21st December.

Having spent 2017 billed in The Catapult Club lineups, and supporting La Dharma at The Flapper in August, Benjamin Thomas, Aphra Smith and Matty George – otherwise known as The Sunset Beach Hut – are our headliners, with their unique blend of lo-fi, indie/pop.

It’s been a steady year for the Shrewsbury based trio, focusing on new material and recording with a few performances keeping their live set polished – a move that seems to be paying off as the band move from support to headliner, as well as recently having BBC Introducing airplay.

The Sunset Beach Hut come across as a band that are dedicated but cautious and it will be interesting to see how much they ‘let go’ in a live setting. Although, personally, I’m also hoping to establish if their name is a reference to the surreal 90’s US soap opera. Guess we’ll find out at Mama Roux’s.

On Thursday 21st December, Sonic Gun Concerts present The Sunset Beach Hut at Mama Roux – with support from Miss World, Junior Weeb, Quinn. For direct event info and links to online ticket sales, click here.

For more from The Sunset Beach Hut, visit www.thesunsetbeachhut.wixsite.com/sunsetbeachhut 

For more from Quinn, visit www.facebook.com/quinnrocks

For more from Junior Weeb, visit www.soundcloud.com/juniorweeb

For more from Miss World, visit www.facebook.com/misswworldband

For more on Mama Roux’s, venue details and further event listings, visit www.facebook.com/mamarouxs

For more from Sonic Gun Concerts, visit www.facebook.com/sonicgunconcerts

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BPREVIEW: Skellig @ The Old Joint Stock 20-30.12.17

Skellig @ The Old Joint Stock 20-30.12.17 / Tin Robot Theatre

Words by Lucy Mounfield

Running from Wednesday 20th to Saturday 30th December, The Old Joint Stock Theatre will present Skellig, their family- friendly Christmas show produced in association with Tin Robot Theatre.

Skellig will run daily at The Old Joint Stock Theatre, except on Christmas Day and Boxing Day. Doors will open at 7pm for all evening shows, with 2pm matinees on 23rd, 24th, 28th and 30th Dec. Tickets are priced at £16 for all performances – for direct event info and online ticket sales, click here.

Tin Robot Theatre are a Midlands-based company led by director Adam Carver, an associate of The Old Joint Stock Theatre. Having only been established a few short years, Tin Robot Theatre have already built an impressive back catalogue and most recently produced their interpretation of H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds (to read Lucy Mounfield’s Birmingham Review of The War of the Worlds, click here).

Skellig @ The Old Joint Stock 20-30.12.17 / Tin Robot TheatreFor their latest endeavour, The Old Joint Stock Theatre and Tin Robot Theatre will be bringing to life David Almond’s much-loved story, Skellig, for the Christmas period. Skellig has fostered numerous productions and is particularly malleable source material due to its ambiguity of meaning and richness of allusion – adaptations can emphasise facets of the original work and build on them in their own way.

A mainstay of secondary school English lessons, Skellig tells the story of a young boy called Michael who, when his younger sister falls ill after moving to a new house, stumbles into the ramshackle garage of his new home where he inadvertently discovers a magical creature, Skellig.

In uncertain times, Michael finds hope and a sense of belonging when he begins to look after the unknown creature. Along the way the story offers meditations on numerous subjects, prompting you down avenues of thought but always leaving elements open to interpretation and the imagination of the audience or director. This is true even as far as Skellig himself; his true nature is not fully determined by the end of the story. It is exciting, therefore, to see Skellig get the Tin Robot treatment.

In Tin Robot Theatre’s own words from their website: ‘We believe in story, and champion the stories of Others; our work has focused on identity (in its many guises), its construction, and relation to popular and dominant culture. We make “full-fat” theatre. We believe in theatre as an experience beginning the moment the audience arrives, transforming space and bringing our distinctive visual style to breathe new life into the familiar.’

With their claustrophobic apocalypse, The War of the Worlds, having only just run its current course, Skellig offers a similar opportunity for Tin Robot Theatre to make their own mark on a classic. What threads will they choose to pull on, and how will their take on Skellig develop?

Skellig runs the The Old Joint Stock Theatre from 20-30th December. For direct details, including show times and online ticket sales, click here.  

For more from The Old Joint Stock, visit www.oldjointstock.co.uk

For more on Tin Robot Theatre, visit www.facebook.com/TinRobotTheatre

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BPREVIEW: Dots & Loops #5 @ The Rose Villa Tavern 19.12.17

Dots & Loops #5 @ The Rose Villa Tavern 19.12.17

Words by Ed King 

On Tuesday 19th December, Flatpack: Assemble present the fifth edition of their Dots & Loops event – a ‘short film night… with a comic twist’, where ‘animated people’ can explore a showcase of selected short films and productions. 

Held at The Rose Villa Tavern, doors for Dots & Loops #5 will open at 7:30pm with entry priced at £4. Please note this event was previously scheduled for The Outback in Wolverhampton on 2nd Nov – for direct event info, including links to the new venue, click here.

Dots & Loops held its inaugural event at The Oobleck in October 2014, hoping to establish itself as ‘sociable evening of short films’ where Birmingham’s local film community, both industry and enthusiasts, could come together to celebrate some ‘really good work’.

Each event has been curated by a variety of film makers, animators and creatives – selecting a series of shorts from both their own portfolio, and of those that have inspired or compelled them. Previous Dots & Loops have welcomed work from Peter Millard, Simon Ellis (Soft) and Charlie Lynn (Beyond Clueless) – Dots & Loops #5 will see the return of animator/director Louis Hudson (Dice Productions) alongside writer/producer, Ian Ravenscroft (Dice Productions, BBC Three). 

As cited on the Flatpack website, Hudson and Ravenscroft have ‘worked together on a number of short films’; and will be presenting ‘some of their favourite collaborations as well as a bunch of comedy shorts that have influenced them and their work throughout their careers.’

Dots & Loops #5 will be held at The Rose Villa Tavern on Tuesday 19th December – as presented by Flatpack: Assemble. For direct event info, click here. 

For more from Flatpack, including full event listings and project information, visit www.flatpackfestival.org.uk

For more on The Rose Villa Tavern, visit www.therosevillatavern.co.uk

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BPREVIEW: Touch My Secret @ Hare and Hounds 06.12.17

Words by Steve Crawford / Pics courtesy of Ikon Gallery

 

On Wednesday 6th December, Kushikatsu Records in collaboration with Orion Live present Japanese power-pop, power-rock trio Touch My Secret at the Hare and Hounds, as part of their December 2017 UK tour. Last seen at the venue as support act to all girl J-Punk group Mutant Monster in November 2016, Touch My Secret now return as headliners in their own right with support from Einstellung and Exotic Pets.

Doors open at 7:30pm, with tickets priced at £11.00 +bf. For direct gig info, including venue details and online ticket sales, click here.

Kushikatsu Records are a Birmingham based label whose frequent trips to Japan have been spent emerged in the Japanese music scene seeking out bands such as Touch My Secret which they promote in the UK to ever growing and appreciative audiences.

The opening act for the evening are Birmingham’s Exotic Pets – a lo-fi, indie, garage trio and no strangers to the Hare and Hounds (and other local venues) having this year supported the likes of Ghosts of Dead Aeroplanes, Soeur and Sunshine Frisbee Laserbeam. Their current single ‘Hot Boys on Campus’ is available as a download from Bandcamp.

Following Exotic Pets will be another Birmingham band, Einstellung – formed as an “outlet for its members to blend their record collections”, and a fusion that inspired the creation of what the band have called ‘Powerkraut’ (a name they originally gave to their studio). Citing influences from Neu!, My Bloody Valentine and Black Sabbath, their first release was a 28 minute single entitled ‘Sleep Easy Mr Parker’ in 2006 and have since released three albums: Wings of Desire, The Rest Are Thunder , All and Nothing. Described live as ‘repetitive, hypnotic with a pulsing beat… that climbs towards a thunderous noise freak out’… it might get loud? “Big earplugs!” we’re told by the band in a recent post. You have been warned.

Our headliners for the evening, Touch My Secret formed less than 3 years ago and played their first gig on the 5th March 2015 at the Shibuya Take Off 7 in Tokyo. Since then, the band have recorded and toured across Japan, China and the UK – but also gained a fan base from as far afield as Russia, Mexico and Brazil. Touch My Secret’s  debut album, nil, was released less than a year after the band formed – followed by their sophomore mini album, GET YOUR WORLD, which came out in April of this year, featuring the theme from the smartphone game ‘God Eater Online’.

Fronted by vocalist/guitarist Anne, with Chloe on bass and Louie on drums (who’s surnames are kept curiously clandestine) the musically-tight trio play a driven and dynamic guitar based rock with fast but melodic rock-pop hooks and licks. Touch My Secret should prove to be a potent and formidable act to experience live.

‘Revenge’ – Touch My Secret

For more on Touch My Secret, visit www.touchmysecret.com

For more on Einstellung, visit www.einstellung.bandcamp.com

For more on Exotic Pets, visit www.ex0ticpets.bandcamp.com

For more on Kushikatsu Records, visit www.kushikatsurecords.com

For more from the Hare and Hounds, including full event listings and online ticket sales, visit www.hareandhoundskingsheath.co.uk

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BPREVIEW: Thomas Bock & Edmund Clark @ Ikon Gallery 06.12.17-11.03.18

Words by Lucy Mounfield / Pics courtesy of Ikon Gallery

On Wednesday 6th December, Ikon Gallery will unveil two new exhibitions: Edmund Clark: In Place of Hate, and the first UK exhibition of work by convict artist Thomas Bock (1793-1855). Both exhibitions are free to enter and will be on display until 11th March 2018.

The official opening of Edmund Clark: In Place of Hate will be held at Ikon Gallery on Wednesday 6th December, running from 6pm to 8pm with a ‘pay bar’ available to guests.

Thomas Bock was born in Birmingham and trained here as an engraver and miniaturist. However, in 1823, he was found guilty of ‘administering concoctions of certain herbs … with the intent to cause miscarriage’ and was sentenced to transportation to Australia for 14 years. It was in Tasmania that Bock developed his role as convict artist; he was commissioned to document the penal system, prison life and the many executions that took place there.

However, the exhibition at Ikon will showcase his portraits of Aboriginal people which he took during his time in Tasmania. Portraits during this period depicting Aboriginal people often focus on their powerlessness during the British settlement; their indigenousness is founded upon this. It will be interesting to see how Bock – as a marginalized British convict – portrayed individuals and families living in Tasmania at the time.

For more on the Thomas Bock exhibition, visit www.ikon-gallery.org/event/thomas-bock

Concurrently, Ikon Gallery will be hosting In Place of Hate by Edmund Clark. Edmund Clark is Ikon’s official artist-in-residence at HMP Grendon in Buckinghamshire, a role he has been in since 2014 and will continue to produce work in conjunction with the gallery until 2018.

Edmund Clark: In Place of Hate is a culmination of his time at Europe’s only entirely therapeutic prison and will display a series of installations, photographs and videos which will engage with his experiences therein. Established in 1962, HMP Grendon uses a democratic and utilitarian approach to the prison system, asking the inmates to accept their punishment and to take responsibility for their offence. On Ikon Gallery’s website for this exhibition, it states that ‘evidence shows that Grendon has delivered lower levels of violence in prison and reduced instances of re-offence after release’.

Edmund Clark: In Place of Hate has the potential to be an exhibition that invites speculation on the effectiveness of the current prison system as well, as a reflection the artists differing experiences of the prison system.

There is, of course, a world of separation between transportation to Australia 200 years ago and a residency at HMP Grendon, but by bringing these two artists together the questions of crime, punishment and rehabilitation are opened up – making a rare shared context in which to interpret their work.

For more on Edmund Clark: In Place of Hate, visit www.ikon-gallery.org/event/edmund-clark

For more on Edmund Clark. visit www.edmundclark.com

For more from Ikon Gallery, including full event listings and online ticket sales, visit www.ikon-gallery.org