BR Content Archives - Page 157 of 191 -

August 5, 2014August 6, 2014

PREVIEW: YR Welcome, Birmingham @ Wagon & Horses, Sat 9th & Sun 10th Aug

“The name is semi sarcastic,” explains Chris Maher – one week before the YR Welcome, Birmingham festival comes to the Wagon & Horses in Digbeth.

“You can obsess over something but in the end no one pays it much notice to it. I mean, Smashing Pumpkins – a terrible name for a band.”

It’s a good point; for that matter what the hell is a Pearl Jam?

But fame and fortune aren’t the driving force behind YR Welcome, Birmingham – at least, not for the promoters (tickets are £7.50 per day / £10 weekend); the two day bandfest is an assault of live music, punched out in 25minute sets across two stages – with the priority put firmly on the acts performing and the people watching them. Vince Powers can rest easy.

“It’s a scratch the surface kind of gig,” continues Maher, “a marathon of the bands that are knocking around and gaining attention.

And we’ve made sure there’s loads of communication between us and the acts booked; we keep talking about the bands, putting them front and centre of the promotion. We’re documenting the whole show too.”

Sounds laudable, what a promoter should do; has the effort been reciprocated? “Most, if not all, of the acts booked have got into the spirit of things – everyone’s enthusiasm rubs off on a potential crowd.”

And there’s a fair amount to ‘rub off’, with 26 bands performing over the two day festival. But with many of Birmingham’s musical horde looking for some more respectable limelight, was it a difficult event to programme?

“Some bands we’d already seen, some approached us, but all were agreed by a collective decision. It’s a snapshot from the underbelly of Birmingham’s rock scene.” Sounds bohemian? “…nothing too Avant-garde, but all doing something creative and interesting within their chosen genre.”

Broadcast wannabes or not, performing over the YR Welcome, Birmingham weekend is a veritable smorgasbord of local or locally endorsed acts, with names such as Slaves, Ions, ANiMA, God Damn and Ghosts of Dead Airplanes peppering the sardine tin line up. And whilst we’re on food related metaphors, there’s a definite hard candy appeal if you’re into your rock.

“Saturday has a very current ‘noise rock’ feel,” describes Maher, “lots of two pieces. Sunday is less so, with a variety of indie, punk, alternative and grungier elements. But there’ll be a range, with some acoustic and post-rock too.”

So basically shut up and listen, or even learn something; with 25minute sets across two stages there’s enough to sink your ears into. “Yeah, it’s a constant and robust running order keeping up momentum. People should be able to take five band chunks before coming up for air.”

Chris Maher is arguably well versed in Birmingham bands, having promoted across the city’s art scene for several years. But YR Welcome, Birmingham is not his endevour alone, rather the culmination of promotions from Digbeth based arts collective DIE DAS DER – whose 2014 shenanigans have so far come to The Lamp Tavern (Digbeth) and The Sun & the Station (Kings Heath). And with six other people steering DIE DAS DER – all with music and/or arts portfolios, it was unlikely to settle there.

“DIE DAS DER put a few gigs on from February, with a DIY aesthetic – in the back rooms of pubs etc, and we’d built up a roster of acts and venues.” With YR Welcome, Birmingham the logical next step? “We wanted to lead into a larger, cohesive event.”

Larger it certainly is, but how cohesive YR Welcome, Birmingham will be – with wall to wall gigs from Dead Sea Skulls to Kate Roberta, is in the hands of the Almighty. Or the sound technician, which with 26 bands on your bill is pretty much the same thing.

YRWelcome, Birmingham / Line Up & times

Saturday 9th August
22:15 SWOOMPTHEENG (Outdoor)
21:30 Slaves (Outdoor)
21:00 God Damn (Indoor)
20:30 Ghosts of Dead Airplanes (Outdoor)
20:00 Table Scraps (Indoor)
19:30 Ratel (Outdoor)
19:00 Little Death Machine (Indoor)
18:30 Frauds (Outdoor)
18:00 Ignoramuss (Indoor)
17:30 MUTT (Outdoor)
17:00 Mutes (Indoor)
16:30 Kate Roberta (Outdoor)
15:30 DNP (Outdoor)

Sunday 10th August
21:30 Dead Sea Skulls (Outdoor)
21:00 WAX FUTURES (Indoor)
20:30 ANiMA (Outdoor)
20:00 Fauxchisels (Indoor)
19:30 IONS (Outdoor)
19:00 Adore (Indoor)
18:30 Great Uncles (Outdoor)
18:00 The Mighty Young (Indoor)
17:30 Eat Y’Self Pretty (Outdoor)
17:00 Rick Wellings (Indoor)
16:30 Ultimate Grand Supreme (Outdoor)
16:00 Why? Said the Moon to Earth (Indoor)
15:30 Princess Maha (The Kut) (Outdoor)

YR Welcome, Birmingham comes to the Wagon & Horses in Digbeth, held across Sat 9^th – Sun 10^th August. Tickets are £7.50 per day / £10 weekend. For more information, including links to online tickets, visit https://www.facebook.com/events/482685528544138/

For more on DIE DAS DER, visit https://www.facebook.com/wearediedasder

For more from the Wagon & Horses, visit http://www.wagonandhorsesdigbeth.com/

August 2, 2014August 2, 2014

BPREVIEW: Louise Petit + Jayne Powell, Daniel Sweeney @ Ort Café, Sat 2nd Aug

Louise Petit returns to Ort Café* tonight, with support from Jayne Powell + Daniel Sweeney. Doors open at 8:30pm, admission is £5.

Since the late 90’s, musical descriptions have generally been a teenage mugging of adjectives and nouns. But Louise Petit’s self declared ‘Folk tinged alt-Pop loveliness’ is as appropriate as you can get.

The Staffordshire singer/songwriter first blipped onto Birmingham Review’s radar just under a year ago; again playing at Ort Café, Petit was out in the real world promoting her Make a House a Home EP – a live endevour, recorded at ‘a secret house concert’ in April ‘13. It was a beautiful England summer evening, and as the rain lashed down the urine/smog coating of a battered No50 – actually reaching the gig got harder and harder.

It was Birmingham Review’s first coverage of Ort Café too, but by the time ‘soft’, ‘sincere’ and ‘red wine in a mug’ had been scribbled in a notebook (and our editor was safely tucked up in the venue’s last available chair) all was right with the world. There was even singing – and not just on stage.

Louise Petit and her accompaniment, Russ Sargeant (double bass/vocals) and Tim Heymerdinger (percussion/vocals), are a joy to watch; refined and skillful in all the right places. Petit’s lyrics lift her once again above the current Folk fallacies, and despite a disturbing penchant for Yuletide knitwear her public portfolio to date has been pretty exemplary.

Plus she has an album out too – Louder Than Your Drum, which will most likely be the centrepiece to this year’s touring. So in short, you’d be pushed to find a better time to see Louise Petit perform or to see her perform again.

Read Birmingham Review previous coverage of Louise Petit:

Louise Petit @ Ort Café, Sat 10^th Aug 2013

Louise Petit @ Ort Café, Sat 1^st Mar 2014

Louise Petit will be supported by Jayne Powell and Daniel Sweeney – in a change from the previously booked Debbie Kate.

Jayne Powell last played at Ort Café on Friday 4^th July, headlining with South Carolina’s Rachel & Friend in support. Powell had been on a ‘productive hiatus’ for a few years and is now back in the saddle after ‘setting up her power trio’.

Punching out Bluesy Americana, with a strong vocal lead that’s reminiscent (to us) of Aimee Mann (no bad thing), Powell has played with many of the great, good and good God not again of the Birmingham gig circuit – a bill with Louse Petit should be a memorable blend.

Daniel Sweeney is one third of Moseley’s Sylvia, who are currently working on their second album – scheduled for release later this year. Sylvia are a thoughtful withdrawal from the Pop/Blues/Folk/Monsters on the rest tonight’s bill, with Sweeney’s high end vocals leading their more delicate laments.

Not much more we can say on Sweeney as a solo artist, at this point, other than a strong suspicion that if autonomy’s going to work for him it’ll work at Ort Café.

Louise Petit return to Ort Café tonight, with support from Jayne Powell + Daniel Sweeney. Doors open at 8:30pm, admission is £5. For more info, visit http://ortcafe.co.uk/

*Ort Café closes from & including, 9^th to 25^th August

For more on Louise Petit, visit http://louisepetit.com/

For more on Jayne Powell, visit http://jaynepowell.co.uk/

For more on Sylvia/Daniel Sweeney, visit http://thisissylvia.com/

July 25, 2014July 25, 2014

PREVIEW: Subvert presents… Dantanna, Culture Dub Orchestra, Malarky + DJ Christy @ Wagon & Horses, Fri 25th July

Subvert Soundsytem return to the Wagon & Horses in Digbeth tonight (Fri 25^th July), presenting live sets from Dantanna, Culture Dub Orchestra & Malarky, with DJ Christy. The night runs from 9pm to 3am with a £5 door charge.

Champions of the DIY party scene, Subvert reportedly started out as ‘a pair of JBL Control 10 speakers’ back in 2003; not much risk of Funktion-One nose bleed, but gets the job done.

Now ‘broadcasting’ through a stacked out touring rig & desk, the Midland’s based Soundsystem have been hosting parties that cut across Punk, Reggae, Ska and Dub – featuring local live acts alongside the occasional interloper.

Firm at the helm tonight are Dantanna, who first blipped on Birmingham Review’s screen thanks to John Noblet – read his last review of Dantanna here, from Subvert Soundsystem @ Wagon & Horse, Sat 29^th March.

Having over doubled (just) in size since conception, Dantanna now boast eleven members – playing their self described ‘music for cock knockers and party people’. And with nearly half of them on vocals at one point or another you can imagine how crowded the front of a Dantanna stage can get.

But they work, and they work hard; fronted by the illustrious Dan Skins, Dantanna are seldom far from some gig somewhere – maintaining a near constant presence on our aforementioned radar.

But see for yourself – watch Dantanna play at Manchester’s Band on the Wall below:

In support, well part of it, are Culture Dub Orchestra (CDO) – a six piece Midland’s ensemble, who came together from other musical endevours just over a year ago. And despite the seeming trend to call everything an ‘orchestra’ CDO defend their moniker with a bevy of accompaniment.

Plus Dub is right at the heart of them, with the importance of delivering it live also a key component. Taking inspiration from a spread of cultures and traditions, CDO present themselves as something defiantly worth a watch. But again, see for yourself below.

Culture Dub Orchestra @ The Bull’s Head

Bringing up the rear tonight are Malarky, a five piece mash up of Ska, Rock, Dub and approaches to hair. Stealing Tamar ‘Juganaut’ Bedward from the Dantanna line up there’s a strong Rap contingent to them now too. And as the promoters of tonight’s gig themselves admit, Malarky are a fusion of ‘punk, funk, ragga and something I’m not quite sure of but its good’. Fu*k it. Sold.

Watch Malarky on Gibbon TV, click here or on the image below:

Subvert Soundsytem present Dantanna, Culture Dub Orchestra & Malarky, with DJ Christy – at the Wagon & Horses in Digbeth tonight (Fri 25^th July). 9pm to 3am with a £5 door charge. For further info, visit https://www.facebook.com/events/1508369529379325/

For more on Dantanna, visit http://dantanna.co.uk/

For more on Culture Dub Orchestra, visit http://www.cultureduborchestra.com/

For more on Malarky, visit http://malarkeyband.wix.com/malarkey

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For more on Subvert Soundsystem, visit https://www.facebook.com/SubvertSoundsystem

For more on the Wagon & Horses, visit http://www.wagonandhorsesdigbeth.com/

July 24, 2014July 24, 2014

REVIEW: Simmer Down Festival @ Handsworth Park, Sun 20th July

Words by Steve Zacharanda. Follow him @stevezacharanda

For a brief interlude Handsworth felt like the centre of the world, as the sun shone down on over 20,000 people at the Simmer Down Festival ‘14. Young, old, black, white and everyone in between stood in the sun listening to Reggae legends Steel Pulse perform in Handsworth for the first time in 30 years.

The sound of ‘Drug Squad’ floated across the Handsworth Park field as people drank and smoked to their hearts content, without Babylon in sight. Steel Pulse bounced around the stage like jumping beans in the sun; it was all set up for the epic finish when Birmingham’s global Reggae stars would play ‘Handsworth Revolution’ in Handsworth. A seminal moment in UK Reggae history, no less.

And then it ended.

The plug was pulled.

The music stopped and the grumbling started.

And the thousands of revelers, to their credit, melted peacefully out of the park – the returning heroes having never played ‘Prodigal Son’ or ‘Handsworth Revolution’. We did not get to see their full set. Probably because Steel Pulse were over an hour late on stage, and Simmer Down Festival has a strict curfew (the sound-system fun of the 1970s and 1980s being harder to have to have these days) – but whatever the problem, or whomever was responsible, it was shame of an ending.

Anyway, Simmer Down Festival is free – so we have no right to feel short changed. And with Steel Pulse, Musical Youth and Apache Indian on the set list, alongside a bevy of other local artists, this year’s festival was always going to be the biggest yet. So much bigger, in fact, that the main stage was moved from near the Handsworth Park bandstand to the field. A logistical necessity no doubt, but a move that lost the natural amphitheatre around the bandstand and the beautiful atmosphere it creates.

But these moans are just cursory as the festival itself was fantastic; the vibe at Simmer Down ’14 was wonderful (even during the long silence as we all waited for Steel Pulse’s set to start). And to see so many people enjoying themselves in inner city Birmingham, without a hint of trouble, is something more important than how long the headliners performed. Even the local gangbangers let their mask slip a bit and joined in the fun; the smell of the jerk food stalls wafting across the park, with the constant sound of laughter from old friends reunited, made it a magical afternoon in the sun.

However there was a serious edge to the festival, with the national Time to Change mental health campaign given a good showing there too – even hosting one of the stages. Mental Health awareness is a prominent issue and one tackled by both of Simmer Down Festival ‘14’s official sponsors – Birmingham Mind and Time to Change. For more information on these orgnaisations click on the links.

As for the rest of the artists performing, on the main stage The Superskas belted out some top tunes with all the energy this wonderful genre of music deserves. Musical Youth performed brilliantly, giving it everything they had whilst ‘Pass(ing) the Dutchie’ on the Lefthand Side and more – it was great to see these Brummie stars roll back the years. Multi-million record selling local boy Apache Indian & the Reggae Revolution were tight as hell too; ‘Boom Shack-a-Lack’ is a song made for a festival bathed in sun.

And regardless of whose watch you were watching (or not) we did get to see a Steel Pulse homecoming in Handsworth, with whatever bitter taste was left being swilled out with some Red Stripe in a packed Crown and Cushion afterwards.

All in all Simmer Down Festival ’14 was one of the best days of my year. I’m already excited about 2015.

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For more on Simmer Down Festival visit http://simmerdownfestival.wordpress.com/

For more from The Drum, visit http://www.the-drum.org.uk/

N.B. Simmer Down Festival ’14 was sponsored by Birmingham Mind & Time to Change, both organisations working to tackle issues surrounding mental health:

For more information on Birmingham Mind, visit http://www.birminghammind.org/

For more information on Time to Change, visit http://www.time-to-change.org.uk/

_______

Ed’s note…

Steel Pulse’s set at Simmer Down Festival ’14 was cut short due to a late start and a strict curfew – with an official response still yet to come to us from the event organisers.

On behalf of Steel Pulse, Selwyn Brown posted the following message on the Simmer Down Festival ‘14 Facebook page:

-STARTS-

Well done Mukhtar and well done to all The Drum organisers in putting together a truly unique Birmingham celebration. It was a great experience and I really enjoyed the event along with the rest of the Steel Pulse family.

My apologies to the people for the short set and I want to go on record and say that this was no fault of the organisers and we as a band take our share of the blame for that.

However this does not take away from the overall success of the event. All the media entities who thought it was not news worthy have missed the point again but that doesn’t take away from the impact that has been made and the pride we all feel as a community. No matter where we travel as a band we never forget where we come from and always feel pride in representing our home town and its diversity and unique character.

The revolution will not be televised but it lives on and will continue to inspire future generations. I met up with so many friends and family yesterday and the buzz I feel will not subside for a good while and I’m not ashamed to share that. I also know that people travelled from around the UK and Europe just to be part of this event. I even met fans and friends from the USA who were here on vacation down south but chose to be in Handsworth for Simmer Down.

Well done again to The Drum, all the artists who performed so admirably, to all the security and event staff and to all the people who turned out to share the Handsworth experience, long may it continue and Jah bless you all.

-ENDS-

Birmingham Review is still looking into this and wants to thank all the people who have been involved in the conversation.

Birmingham Review would also like to extend a special thanks to Jordan/Jay Rubiah at The Drum, whose front line endeavors make him a champion in our book (and possibly the only member of staff on site) – we salute you sir.

Ed King is editor of Birmingham Review. Follow him @EdKing2210

July 20, 2014July 20, 2014

PREVIEW: Monty Python Live (mostly)

Director: Aubrey Powell
Writing Credits: Monty Python
Cast: John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Michael Palin – with archive footage including Graham Chapman

UK rating: 15 certificate
UK release date: Various

Monty Python Live (mostly) is broadcast across UK cinemas today – being shown at the Electric Cinema tonight, with further ‘encore’s on July 24^th, Aug 3^rd & Aug 14^th.

The final performance from a series of ‘reunion’ stage dates at the 02 Academy in London, presented by Phil McIntyre Entertainments, Monty Python Live (mostly) is exactly that – Monty Python, being performed by the original crew (R.I.P Mr Chapman) on stage live. Mostly. There’s some Terry Gilliam up there too.

The idea is simple and astute – get the Pythons back together, performing the tried and tested classics, run it as a stage show at the country’s second largest indoor arena, film it, screen the same live performance in cinemas across the country. No doubt the DVD-Blue-Ray-t-shirt- breakfast-cereal will be out just before Christmas. If you’re going to do a reunion, do it properly.

And why not, after all there’s been the demand. The Pythons came together for one live date at the O2 Academy London on July 1^st; sold that out, so added shows on July 2^nd – 5^th. After those sold out July 20^th was added as a final farewell. This too, sold out. But you still get the chance to see it at cinemas across the country on special syndications of each live show. Unless of course those screenings have sold out as well. Which most have. As I said, there’s been the demand.

But a Monty Python reunion selling out is almost as predictable as the live show itself – an homage to lumberjacks, parrots (dead), people called Bruce, tinned meat(ish) and overzealous cardinals. Although with Spamalot nearly a decade old there’s probably a heightened sense of ‘show’ in the proceedings.

Reports from the July 1^st opening were equally obvious – ‘I can’t believe I’m watching the Pythons live’, ‘I can’t believe how old they look’, ‘I’m a lumberjack and I’m OK…’ After all, the Footlights was a long time ago.

But none of this really matters – Monty Python Live (mostly) is an arguably overdue exercise in giving the fans what they want (and there’s a lot of them) whilst getting handsomely paid in the process . Which, when you’ve contributed as much as the Pythons have, is no bad thing.

Monty Python’s Flying Circus deserve a golden handshake as absurd as their comedy, and the overwhelmingly complicit ticket buying public have agreed in their thousands. Tens of thousands. It may be contrived, but it’s always original – a paradox worthy of the Pythons themselves. The only tragedy being that they’re one down in number.

Monty Python Live (mostly) – official trailer, click here/image below

Monty Python Live is screened at the Electric Cinema tonight (July 20^th), with further ‘encore’s on July 24^th, Aug 3^rd & Aug 14^th. For further details, including full show listings and times, visit https://www.theelectric.co.uk

For more on Monty Python Live (Mostly), visit http://www.montypythonlive.com/

For more about Monty Python, visit http://pythonline.com/

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For more about the Academy Music Group, including their Birmingham venue, visit http://www.academy-music-group.co.uk/

For more from Phil McIntyre Entertainments, visit http://www.mcintyre-ents.com