BPreviews Archives - Page 36 of 69 -

March 10, 2017March 10, 2017

BPREVIEW: Peaness @ The Sunflower Lounge 13.03.17

Words by Ed King / Lead pic courtesy of Alcopop!, No Fun artwork by Sara Thielker

On Monday 13^th March, Peaness perform at The Sunflower Lounge – with support from Mondo Royale + Maybe Don’t. Peaness come to Birmingham for the penultimate gig on their national tour, before their Chester homecoming show on 23rd March.

Doors open at 7:30 with tickets priced at £6adv, as presented by Counteract. For direct gig info, including venue details and online tickets sales, click here.

Formed at the tail end of 2014, Peaness ‘started messing around, writing and practicing, bedroom style’ before getting onto the live circuit in July the following year. Penning their self described ‘pea pop’, Peaness released their No Fun EP in 2015 – a four track debut of ‘three-minute melodic pop songs’, running no more than 15minutes start to finish. So FM friendly you could… hang on, what’s their name again?

But as the joke snowballed like some kind of sphere made of frozen water, demand for Peaness grew. Now there’s a sentence that works better written down… A slew of festival gigs, media attention (including some healthly radio plugging) and distribution deals pushed them further into the limelight, before the Chester based three piece signed to Alcopop! Records.

The following is a suitably effusive/supportive statement from Alcopop! Records about signing Peaness – to read the full press release, click here:

‘Alcopop! Records overlord Jack Clothier enthuses: “To put it frankly, Peaness are pretty much THE best band I’ve heard in the last few months – and working with them already has been a total joy! They’ve achieved stacks already, and we’re really excited to get on board and help out. The EP hasn’t left my head for weeks. It’s infectious, brilliant, DIY-influenced indie-pop genius, if you ask me – which you probably didn’t.”’

Peaness also had their latest double A-side single, ‘Same Place’/‘Seafoam Islands’, released on 27th January via Odd Box Records, with their previous ‘Oh George’ making its way onto various BBC playlists (and possibly the back benches).

There was even an international release of two tracks from debut EP via the Vancouver based Kingfisher Bluez label, sending their ‘I’m Not Your Problem / Fortune Favours the Bold’ double a-side out across the northern colonies and digital record stores.

Peaness have further announced plans to release their follow up EP – Are You Sure? – through Alcopop! Records later this year.

‘Summer Song’ / Peaness

Peaness perform at The Sunflower Lounge on Monday 13^th March, with support from Mondo Royale + Maybe Don’t – as presented Counteract. For direct gig info and online tickets sales, click here.

For more on Peaness, visit www.peanessband.tumblr.com

For more from The Sunflower Lounge, including full event listing and online ticket sales, visit www.thesunflowerlounge.com

For more from Counteract, visit www.counteract.co

March 9, 2017

BPREVIEW: One Love: The Bob Marley Musical @ REP 10.03.17 – 15.04.17

Words by Ed King / Lead pic courtesy of REP, rehearsal pic by Helen Maybanks

On Friday 10^th March, One Love: The Bob Marley Musical opens at the Birmingham REP, running daily (except Sundays) until Saturday 15^th April. Matinee performances will be held on Thursdays and Saturdays at 4pm.

The following assisted shows will also be held: Audio Described on Saturday 1^st April at 4pm, Captioned on Wednesday 5^th April at 7:30pm, British Sign Language Interpreted on Friday 7^th April at 7:30pm.

Standard tickets start from £15, with preview tickets available at £10 for shows from Friday 10^th to Tuesday 14^th March. For direct event information, including venue details and online ticket sales, click here.

One Love: The Bob Marley Musical is written/directed by Kwame Kwei-Armah and produced by the Birmingham Rep – in association with Playful Productions and Stage Play Limited. For a full list of cast and crew, click here.

Originally titled Marley, this is the second stage outing for a Bob Marley musical from Kwame Kwei-Armah – the first being run at the Centre Stage theatre in Boston where Kwei-Armah is the artistic director. Holding its UK première at the Birmingham REP, One Love: The Bob Marley Musical will most likely go on to tour the wider UK – although at the time of writing Birmingham Review can’t confirm any future dates after the REP run.

Taking place ‘across a dramatic period in the music legend’s life’, One Love ‘tells the story of a man propelled from rising reggae star to global icon’. But the name and cast list suggest the narrative will pivot on the One Love Peace concert hosted by Bob Marley in Kingston in 1978, where Marley reportedly joined the hands (literally) of warring Jamaican politicians (literally again) Michael Manley (PNP) and Edward Seaga (JLP) live on stage.

Two years earlier Bob Marley, his wife Rita, and manager Don Taylor had been shot for their involvement in the Smile Jamaica concert, as gunmen attacked the Tuff Gong home and studio on Hope Road. Many believe Bob Marley and the Wailers had become targets for the CIA supported JLP after the date of the election had been moved to coincide with the arguably pro-PNP concert; the north america based intelligence agency has a track record of aggressive electioneering in central and south america.

Then there’s the music…

It’s hard to find an artist who has crossed more boundaries of style, culture, race and class as Bob Marley, bringing an accessible message of peace and unity to a Benetton commercial audience across the world.

Most of us know this, having grown up surrounded by poster-after-badge-after-t-shirt-after-compilation, but the numbers behind the icon give an almost bewildering context: 13 studio albums in 18 years with over 75 million records sold before his death (Bob Marley and the Wailers hit over 21million in one decade of posthumous sales). Bob Marley has received awards from Rolling Stone to the United Nations, with one of most plaque or stars you can get featuring his name. And here’s another number, Bob Marley was only 36 when he died.

Not the be all and end all of reggae by any stretch – with members of The Wailers, Marley’s production team and the Island Record entourage being arguably as, if not more, pioneering – Bob Marley represented a moment in time. And despite his colonial bloodline, with extended self exiles in both America and the UK, Bob Marley was a force of recognition for the struggles of Jamaica, the African Diaspora and people worldwide who were suffering or forgotten.

In both life and death, Bob Marley has stood as an icon for hope and the continued hope of freedom itself. And from redbrick University walls to the back room of an Aston blues party, this message continues to travel. ‘Won’t you help to sing…?’

Check out Kwame Kwei-Armah talking about One Love: The Bob Marley Musical below:

One Love: The Bob Marley Musical opens at Birmingham REP on Friday 10^th March running daily (except Sundays) until Saturday 15^th April. For direct event info and online tickets sales, click here.

For more on Kwame Kwei-Armah, visit www.unitedagents.co.uk/kwame-kwei-armah

For more from Birmingham REP, including full event listing and online ticket sales, visit www.birmingham-rep.co.uk

March 6, 2017March 6, 2017

BPREVIEW: The Pigeon Detectives @ O2 Institute 08.03.17

Words by Michelle Martin

Fresh off the release of their fifth studio album, Broken Glances, The Pigeon Detectives are landing in Birmingham for a live show on March 8^th at the O2 Institute. Their appearance will be supported by Franklin and AutoPilot.

Doors open at 7pm and tickets are prices at £15.00 (excluding fees), as presented by Birmingham Promoters. For direct gig info, including venue details and online ticket sales, click here.

The Pigeon Detectives are made up of lead vocals Matt Bowman, Oliver Main and Ryan Wilson on guitar, Dave Best on bass and Jimmi Naylor on drums.

The Rothwell based band formed in 2004 and burst onto the indie rock scene three years later with the release of their debut album, Wait for Me. It peaked at number three in the UK Top 40 Charts, reaching Gold status. That same year The Pigeon Detectives were nominated for Best New Act at the Q Awards and toured with Kaiser Chiefs on their Manchester and London dates.

In 2008 The Pigeon Detectives performed to over 15,000 fans in two days at Leeds Millennium Square, shortly before the release of their second album, Emergency. The album’s lead single, This is an Emergency, reached No. 14 in the UK Singles Chart.

That same year the band had a demanding schedule of festival appearances, including V Festival, T in the Park and Glastonbury Festival, culminating in a special performance at Alexandra Palace and a sold out UK and Ireland tour to conclude their Emergency promotion.

The Pigeon Detectives achieved their third consecutive Top 40 album with Up, Guards and at ‘Em! In 2011, and supported this with two successful UK tours and an appearance at Reading and Leeds Festival. Their fourth album, We Met at Sea, took the five piece back to their roots, opting to record at Cottage Road Studios in their hometown and touring in northern Europe and Russia.

Their latest record, Broken Glances, was released February 24^th 2017 – you can read my Birmingham Review of Broken Glances here.

The Pigeon Detectives return to Birmingham on 8^th March, showcasing their latest effort alongside a decade long back catalogue. Check out the double A side release from Broken Glances below:

‘Lose Control’ – The Pigeon Detectives

‘Wolves’ – The Pigeon Detectives

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The Pigeon Detectives will be playing at the O2 Institute on 8^th March, as presented by Birmingham Promoters. For direct gig info and online ticket sales, click here.

The Pigeon Detectives released Broken Glances on Friday 24^th February, out via Dance to the Radio. For more on The Pigeon Detectives, visit www.thepigeondetectives.com

For more on Dance to the Radio, visit www.dancetotheradio.com

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For more from the O2 Institute, including a full event programme and online ticket sales, visit www.academymusicgroup.com/o2institutebirmingham

For more from Birmingham Promoters, visit www.birminghampromoters.com

March 6, 2017March 5, 2017

BPREVIEW: Josefin Öhrn + The Liberation @ Hare & Hounds 07.03.17

Words by Ed King / Pics courtesy of Rocket Records

On Tuesday 7^th March, Josefin Öhrn + The Liberation perform at the Hare & Hounds (Kings Heath).

Doors open at 7:30pm, with tickets priced at £7:50 (adv) – as presented by This Is Tmrw. For direct gig info, including venue details and online sales, click here.

The ‘queen of stoner pop’ in their home country of Sweden, Josefin Öhrn + The Liberation come to Birmingham at the end of their eleven date UK tour. Although nobody really describes this band better than theselves, so ‘Alchemical Sky Gazing’.

Playing gigs from Brighton to Glasgow, Josefin Öhrn + The Liberation have been in the UK since the end of Feb – including a return to Liverpool, where the band were amongst the top bill for the city’s International Festival of Psychedelia last year. Not really relative to their Birmingham gig but citing this booking should divert the need for a load of garrulous comparisons. Alright, you can have one – Mazzy Star meets Swervedriver.

Relatively fresh faced Josefin Öhrn + The Liberation released their first LP, Horse Dance, in 2015 though the Stockholm based Gone Beyond Records, and Rocket Records – the UK based label home of Goat, Teeth of the Sea and Gnoomes. A brooding and driven eight track landscape, with subverted rock powering some ethereal yet commanding vocals, this uncompromising album was both a darker side step from their previous EPs and something to notice. A bit like Mazzy Star meets Swerve… ibid, your honour.

Self described as marking ‘out a territory in which beguiling repetition could sashay with sweet pop suss, melodic flourishes with experimental intensity,’ (a line I wish I had written) Horse Dance gained Josefin Öhrn + The Liberation a solid left of centre fan base and respectable industry interest. Roskilde followed, as did a string of dates across the UK supporting label mates, Goat.

Now back on the road with a new album, Mirage, Josefin Öhrn + The Liberation’s sophomore LP is similar but a step up from their visceral debut – bringing the same twisted metal intensity and spirit guide vocals, but with a touch more digital than analogue. So Mazzy Star meets Swervedriver, remixed by Underworld. Or to once again cherry pick from the band’s own biog: ‘…the seductive splendour of these ten songs make manifest a parallel world of disorientation and deliverance in which one would be a fool not to want to languish adrift.’ Lovely.

But one sense (or song) is seldom enough, so have a stop, look, listen to this double album track sandwich from Mirage.

‘In Madrid / Rainbow Lollipop’ / Josefin Öhrn + The Liberation

Josefin Öhrn + The Liberation perform at the Hare & Hounds (Kings Heath) on Tuesday 7^th March, as presented This Is Tmrw. For direct gig info and online tickets sales, click here.

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For more on Josefin Öhrn + The Liberation, visit www.josefinohrn.squarespace.com

For more from the Hare & Hounds (Kings Heath), including full event listing and online ticket sales, visit www.hareandhoundskingsheath.co.uk

For more from This Is Tmrw, visit www.thisistmrw.co.uk

March 3, 2017March 3, 2017

BPREVIEW: Dutch Uncles @ Hare & Hounds 06.03.17

Words by Steve Crawford

On Monday 6^th March, This is Tmrw present Dutch Uncles on their return to the Hare and Hound s (Kings Heath) – playing in Birmingham as part of a 12 date UK tour promoting their fifth studio album Big Balloon.

Doors open at 7.30pm, tickets are £10 adv (plus booking fee). For direct gig info, including venue details and online ticket sales, click here.

Dutch Uncles formed in the Greater Manchester suburb of Marple in 2008, releasing their first eponymous album in 2009. A prodigious work rate has ensured a new album every two years, although Big Balloon is the first album not to feature founding member and guitarist Daniel Spedding who left the band in February 2015, shortly after O Shudder. Dutch Uncles have gigged without Spedding over the past two years, using a touring guitarist instead.

Alongside fellow Mancunians, Everything Everything (both grouped under the ‘Intelligent Manchester Scene’ banner), Dutch Uncles were amongst a clutch of bands that emerged, or at least started to find popularity, in the late noughties, favouring the use of unusual time signatures often combined with androgynous/falsetto vocals.

They have been influenced by the likes of minimalist composer Steve Reich (who turns out to be a fan of the band), Berlin era Bowie, 80s synth pop acts such as Japan, as well as the spikey, angular guitar sounds of post punk. Labelled as Art Rock, New Prog and the quite frankly off-putting Math Rock, Dutch Uncles play a twitchy, juddering, stop-start, idiosyncratic style of guitar/synth music that’s not without an element of funk underpinning it all.

Featured as one of the Guardian’s New Bands of the Day (No.691) in 2014, Dutch Uncles have racked up at least a dozen radio sessions in their nine year history. They are one of the main acts at this year’s BBC 6 Music Festival at the end of March, following the release of their latest single, ‘Oh Yeah!’, in February this year.

‘Oh Yeah!’ – Dutch Uncles

Dutch Uncles performs at the Hare & Hounds on Monday 6^th March, as presented This Is Tmrw. For direct gig info and online tickets sales, click here.

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For more on Dutch Uncles, visit www.dutchuncles.co.uk

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

For more from This Is Tmrw, visit www.thisistmrw.co.uk