Live Music Archives - Page 9 of 11 -

October 20, 2018October 20, 2018

BPREVIEW: Rews + MeMe Detroit, Thousand Thoughts @ The Flapper 17.11.18

Words by Ed King

On Saturday 17^th November, the mighty REWS return to Birmingham – rounding off a five date UK tour at The Flapper in Birmingham.

Support at The Flapper comes from MeMe Detroit – Birmingham’s ‘sleazy rock’ grunge tinged indie punkster, who is out on the road promoting her new Life in the Now EP. Whilst joining REWS on all of their UK tour dates are Thousand Thoughts – Enfield’s fresh faced but ferocious nu metal/alt rockers who are currently promoting their debut single, ‘This One’s for You’.

Doors open at 7:00pm, with tickets priced at £10 (plus booking fees) – as presented by Metropolis Music, arranged by Midnight Mango, and in association with Birmingham Review. For gig info and online ticket sales direct from REWS click here, or visit the Facebook event p age here.

It’s been quite a couple of years for REWS – the ‘rock powerhouse’ two piece who have been grafting and gaining fans up and down the country, belting out some of the best live shows on the circuit and backing up every on stage inch with their stellar debut album, Pyro.

Wrapping their debut single, ‘Miss You in the Dark’, around a blue touch paper performance on Glastonbury’s John Peel stage last year, REWS quickly caught the attention of most music based national broadcasters – with Mark Radcliffe citing them as one of his highlights from the 2017 festival.

REWS‘ second single, ‘Shine’, grabbed the airwaves through Kerrang!, Planet Rock, Radio X, Today FM, 2FM, and Radio 1. Whilst the band’s October’s follow up release, ‘Your Tears’, got featured as the BBC Music Introducing Track of the Week – getting public plaudits from presenters including Huw Stephens, Alice Levine, Clara Amfo, Scott Mills, Dev, Adele and Greg James.

Coinciding with their autumn tour, which REWS will finish up and finale in Birmingham, one of the band’s strongest onstage tracks has got a studio spit and polish – ‘Can You Feel It?’ was released on 21^st September, mixed and mastered by Romesh Dodangoda (Bring Me The Horizon, Don Broco, Lower Than Atlantis).

“’Can You Feel it?’ is a song that takes a positive spin on hurt feelings,” explains Shauna Tohill from REWS. “It encourages the listener to ‘let it out’, ‘dance’, ’sing’ and not be afraid to explore how they feel in order to better themselves & learn to love again. It was inspired and written during a period of heartbreak and describes the stages of grief that we endure.”

But not stopping on these shores, REWS recently supported Halestorm on their UK tour – seeing them showcase in front of thousands of new fans across the country, in what we suspect is a precursor to a trip across the Atlantic. And North America is going to go bat sh*t for REWS, if you’ll excuse the crudity. But it’s a game changer and no mistake. REWS have also just come back from a showcase gig at the Music China event in Shanghai, as organised by their label Marshall Records, but we’re going to put out some Can-You-Feelers about this find out a little more… tbc.

Joining REWS at The Flapper will be MeMe Detroit, who is touring the UK with her new Life in the Now EP – set for release on 23^rd November. One of the brighter shining stars from the city’s music scene (and beyond, to be fair) MeMe Detroit is self described as ‘sitting somewhere between sleazy grunge and power indie… oozing sultry guitar driven hooks with a head turning vocal’ – a summation we liked so much, we stole it.

Gritty and gutsy, covered in war paint, melody, and the occasional acerbic observation, MeMe Detroit released her debut album, Live to Love You’ll Love to Live, in 2016 – a ten track declaration that manages to kick you in the teeth, guts, and up the derrière all at the same time. Awesome.

Follow up releases came in various shapes, sizes, and sharp undertones – with one of our favourites being the uber pertinent ‘Soc Med Junkies’, which pokes a well deserving stick in the rib cages of those silent conversationalists who are content to share only cyber space together. To check out the video to ‘Soc Med Junkies’, click here.

And appearing with REWS across all of their UK tour dates this autumn are label mates Thousand Thoughts, who signed to Marshall Records in 2017. Currently promoting their debut single, ‘This One’s for You’, the Enfield based four piece ‘take on elements of nu-metal, pop-punk and alt-rock, interwoven with themes of tragedy and loss’ – with messages of hope and inspiration thrown in for good measure.

Committing to a pretty rigorous touring schedule, the band have been playing up and down the UK since January 2017 – originally titled Elsewhere, but changing their moniker to Thousand Thoughts once the leaves of 2018 started to fall. To check out Thousand Thoughts’ debut single, ‘This One’s for You’ – released in June 2018, click here.

Meanwhile back at REWS HQ, we just have one question for you…

‘Can You Feel It?’ – REWS

REWS perform at The Flapper on Saturday 17^th November, with support from MeMe Detroit and Thousand Thoughts. For direct event information and online ticket sales, visit www.rewsmusic.com/events/2018-11-17-rews-the-flapper

For more on REWS, visit www.rewsmusic.com

For more on MeMe Detroit, visit www.memedetroit.com

For more on Thousand Thoughts, visit www.facebook.com/TThoughtsMusic

For from The Flapper, including venue details and further event listings, visit www.theflapper.co.uk

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NOT NORMAL – NOT OK is a campaign to encourage safety and respect within live music venues, and to combat the culture of sexual assault and aggression – from dance floor to dressing room.

To sign up to NOT NORMAL – NOT OK, click here. To know more about the NOT NORMAL – NOT OK sticker campaign, click here.

October 15, 2018October 15, 2018

BPREVIEW: Editors @ O2 Academy 19.10.18

Words by Ed King

On Friday 19^th October, Editors play the O2 Academy Birmingham – on the road promoting their sixth studio album, Violence.

Doors open at the O2 Academy Birmingham from 7pm, with tickets priced at £25.00 (plus booking fees) – as presented by SJM Concerts/Gigs and Tours and Goldenvoice. For direct gig information, including venue details and online ticket sales, click here.

N.B. At the time of writing, Editors’ gig at the O2 Academy Birmingham has sold out – for details of the band’s full touring schedule, across the UK and beyond, click here.

Likened to most bands that ever donned a frown and a trench coat, it can be easy to pigeon hole Editors. Cue comparison to Interpol… But go back over their now six album strong portfolio and you’ll find an intelligent evolution of sounds, from a band who arguably defined their own genre rather than being pulled down by the indie rock undercurrent or slipping into store bought comparisons. NME tried once, with a description I won’t bother to repeat, but with Editors the old adage is the best – the music speaks for itself.

Returning to the venue they opened back in September 2009 (queue jumping The Twang and Ocean Colour Scene to christen the O2 Academy Birmingham’s new Bristol Street main stage) Editors are on the road promoting Violence – the nine track hybrid of dark rock and electronica, with the thumbprints of razor edged pop that the band do so well. Cue comparison to Depeche Mode…

Released in March 2018 through PIAS Records, Violence has Editors sharing the production credit with Leo Abrahams – the guitarist and producer who has played with Imogen Heap, Pulp and Ed Harcourt, and produced artists including Carl Barât, Frightened Rabbit and Paulo Nuiti.

The album’s lead single, ‘Magazine’, was released to favourable reviews in January – a track that had been bouncing around Editors’ songbook since The Weight of Your Love, but has only found it’s home with the new ensemble. Further singles ‘Hallelujah (So Low)’ and ‘Darkness at the Door’ were released in February and April respectively, with the album’s latest single and opening track, ‘Cold’, released in October.

The O2 Academy Birmingham ‘homecoming’ gig sold out back in August, not a huge surprise. But there are more UK dates across October if you have the desire and designated driver free to get there – and if you live in mainland Europe, Editors will no doubt be on a festival bill somewhere near you soon.

Otherwise settle down in your plush Chesterfield armchair, look meaningful through a sideways glance, pick your favourite vacuous celebrity or BS infused politician, and…

‘Magazine’ – Editors

Editors play the O2 Academy Birmingham on Friday 19^th October – as presented by SJM Concerts/Gigs and Tours and Goldenvoice. For direct gig information, including venue details and links to online ticket sales, click here.

For more on Editors, including full tours details, visit www.editors-official.com

For more from SJM Concerts/Gigs and Tours, including further event listings and online ticket sales, visit www.gigsandtours.com

For more from Goldenvoice, including further event listings and online ticket sales, visit www.goldenvoice.com

For more from the O2 Academy Birmingham, including venue details and further event listings, visit www.academymusicgroup.com/o2academybirmingham

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NOT NORMAL – NOT OK is a campaign to encourage safety and respect within live music venues, and to combat the culture of sexual assault and aggression – from dance floor to dressing room.

To sign up to NOT NORMAL – NOT OK, click here. To know more about the NOT NORMAL – NOT OK sticker campaign, click here.

September 28, 2018

BPREVIEW: NOT NORMAL – NOT OK fundraising drinks reception & live music showcase from The Taboo Club + Liquid Cheeks, Lilac Noise @ The Victoria 29.09.18

Words by Ed King

**Final tickets remaining – to book your ticket for The Taboo Club live music showcase and NOT NORMAL – NOT OK drinks reception, click here for the special See Tickets link**

On Saturday 29^th September, The Taboo Club will be headlining a live music showcase with Birmingham Review at The Victoria on John Bright St – with support from Liquid Cheeks and Lilac Noise.

As part of the fundraising and awareness around the NOT NORMAL – NOT OK campaign, ‘to combat the culture of sexual assault and aggression – from dance floor to dressing room’, there will be a special drinks reception held at The Victoria before the gig.

Doors to the NOT NORMAL – NOT OK drinks reception open at 7/7:15pm, with tickets priced at £7 including entry to the gig afterwards. At the time of writing there are only a handful of tickets left available, but you can still buy online through a special See Tickets link by clicking here.

If you have already purchased a ticket to the gig and would like entry into the drinks reception, please contact ed@birminghamreview.net – or the band that you bought the ticket though.

The Taboo Club are a newly formed ensemble of longstanding local musicians, delivering a ‘heartbreakingly cathartic’ amalgamation of genres and influences. Led by rising waves of rhythm guitar, over an identifiable bass backbone, their sounds also embraces strong elements of saxophone and keys – all tinged with the sultry, low lit vibes of a ‘bourbon lit Harlem dive bar’. Read Sam Lambeth’s interview with The Taboo Club here.

On the bill as local support will be Liquid Cheeks, playing their first live set as the newly formed electro/garage two piece. Liquid Cheeks are made up of Ben Ollis Gibbs and Greg Christopher, from the erstwhile Byron Hare, and will be showcasing their current singles ‘He’s a Flower’ and ‘Serendipity’. Read Emily Doyle’s interview with Liquid Cheeks here.

Also appearing will be Lilac Noise, Stoke’s electro melodic four piece who have been building a maelstrom of momentum since May this year – coming to Birmingham for their first show in the city, and promoting their soon to be released debut single ‘Paradox’.

NOT NORMAL – NOT OK is a campaign to challenge sexual assault in live music venues that was set up in June 2018, by a collective of people who work within the local music scene. Many venues and gig goers across the city have already been supporting the campaign, wearing the NOT NORMAL – NOT OK stickers when they promote or attend live music events.

Later this year, NOT NORMAL – NOT OK will be increasing its outreach – working with regional support agencies, West Midlands Police, and venue operators across Birmingham to establish a stronger presence in live music venues – as well as providing further and clear avenues of support for the gig going public, and helping the venues deliver their existing duties of care.

All money raised from the NOT NORMAL – NOT OK drinks reception will be put directly back into the ongoing campaign. For more information on NOT NORMAL – NOT OK, visit www.notnormalnotok.com

Doors open upstairs at The Victoria for the NOT NORMAL – NOT OK drinks reception from 7/15pm, with entrance to The Taboo Club live music showcase from 8pm – on Saturday 29^th September.

Tickets are priced at £7 (adv) and £10 (otd), as presented by Birmingham Review – to buy online visit the special See Tickets link by clicking here.

For more information on The Taboo Club live music showcase, check out the Facebook Event Page by clicking here.

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For more on The Taboo Club, visit www.facebook.com/TheTabooClubUK

For more on Liquid Cheeks, visit www.facebook.com/liquidcheeks

For more on Lilac Noise, visit www.facebook.com/lilacnoiseuk

For more on The Victoria, including venue details and further event listings, visit www.thevictoriabirmingham.co.uk

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NOT NORMAL – NOT OK is a campaign to encourage safety and respect within live music venues, and to combat the culture of sexual assault and aggression – from dance floor to dressing room.

To sign up to NOT NORMAL – NOT OK, click here. To know more about the NOT NORMAL – NOT OK sticker campaign, click here.

September 11, 2018

BREVIEW: The August Showcase with Lice, The Lizards, The Hungry Ghosts, Whitelight @ Hare & Hounds 12.08.18

Words by Ed King / Pics by Paul Reynolds

Urrgghh… a gig on a Sunday, who has the energy/serotonin left?

Apparently quite a few people, as I saunter (stumble) into the Hare & Hounds Room 2 alongside a very respectable crowd. Numberswise that is, they could all be slow boiling lost children at home for all I know. Or care. My Sunday roll call of compassion is often woefully one-sided. But a strong tail end of the weekend audience have turned out to support RDE and Setting Son’s August showcase – with local lads (and it is a bit of a sausage fest tonight) Whitelight, The Lizards, and The Hungry Ghosts all supporting Joe Talbot’s label champions, Lice.

Whitelight, a band I’ve not heard of before tonight but who I’m reliably told have come from the aftermath of Shaake, take up the first space on the bill – a stripped back twosome, guitar and drums, delivering a big room sound that far surpasses their square inches on stage.

Jokingly I said words to that effect would be my review, but adding ‘fuck me they rock’ probably sums it up quite nicely. There may be a few disjointed moments tonight, in set relying too heavily on the ‘break… and kick in’ rock power play, but the musicianship from this arena filling sound is a more than a little impressive. I could even use the word ‘Hendrix’ and not feel like too much of a fraud. But keep an eye on those listings and make your own addled mind up about them. Whitelight; you have been warned.

Next up are The Hungry Ghosts, a band I love to the core but feel compelled to judge with an extra stern eye. And ear. And gut. And all those things I need to be truthful. But having a replacement bass player on stage tonight – with Miles Cocker filling in for Emily Doyle over a few of the summer months – the most immediate of my knee jerk commentaries is ‘an overwhelming newness’ to their performance tonight.

It’s exciting, it’s rock and roll, but it’s also a little… The stage, for a start, feels too small, with the proficient wall of blues rock tumbling over the first song and smothering ‘Death Rattle Blues’ – the sophomore on the set list tonight. I’ve seen The Hungry Ghosts crammed into much tighter corners, but something is uncomfortably full tonight. And yet there is a… about it all. And as I wrestle with the ellipses that will no doubt be haunting my copy later on, I write ‘too much of something’, ‘this band just keep getting better’, before adding ‘I don’t know’ to my drunk spider scrawl.

‘Lazaro’ follows, with Joe (INSERT SURNAME HERE)’s vocals feeling well rounded for a weekend finale, before a bit of a swing/miss from new song ‘Jesus Fever’ and a somewhat lacking rendition of the tried and tested ‘Super King King’ – one of my longstanding favourites from this band’s slaughterhouse repertoire. But when you’re close to perfection it’s hard to stay consistent, and exciting ebbs and discouraging flows continue from ‘the ghosts’ set tonight – yet I am, once again, left both curious and eager. For all its ferocity and fallacy, it feels like something is brewing in The Hungry Ghosts’ set list tonight, with this Sunday showcase perhaps just first public introduction to an exciting evolution. But never fear; we’ll see/hear from The Hungry Ghosts soon enough, and ‘Shake the Devil’ will no doubt be in there somewhere near the start.

It is now that I must issue an honest, albeit rather unsatisfactory, apology, as I miss The Lizards’ set due to cider and an earth shatteringly endearing band I fell afoul of at the downstairs bar. But I shall leave you with two pearls of wisdom: 1) Orchard Pig cider is not as benign as it sounds, and 2) Liquid Cheeks. And I’ll bet my pension (currently about £32 and a first edition Roald Dahl) that in 18 months time you’ll not need an explanation for the latter.

Time… enough. Attack ships on fire introduce the headline act for tonight, the Bristolian barrage of fun that are Lice. Well documented for bad time keeping and guttural prose, both attributes close to my heart, it is the band’s frontman that I’m most keen to see in full swing. But an army of low thumped drums, distorted feedback, and restrained punk pretensions (if such a thing can exist in the realms beyond oxymoron) are soon taking my eyes across the rough edged four piece. Frontman, Alistair Shuttleworth, who has set the stage for such anarchic atrocities as Fat White Family, owns the Sunday night dwindling crowd from the off – delivering his trademark prose in a way that makes me sit up straight yet miss every word. A linguistic trick I almost love and hate him for in the same short, sharp intake of breath.

But they are commanding, even to a room that seems half empty from the last time I stood in it (The Lizards, cider, downstairs bar, shit journalist…) and I am quickly moving my shoulders in that way a middle aged man does when he wants to let go. Lice last played in Birmingham “on this stage, almost exactly a year ago” as part of the Killer Wave all day August band Holiday event in 2017, and it’s good to see them headline after such a well earned 12 months.

Oddly, even incongruously (if I were a devotee of Paul Dacre) polite, each song gets a stomach propelled “thank you” as Lice blast though their short songs and punchy set – delivering a well meant audio assault that makes me want to invite them, and their backline, to my next birthday party. Superb, SUPERB FUCKING PERCUSSION. But jumping from the tirade of an angry child to the wisdom of someone with something to say, Lice live up to their hype – as the Joe Talbot endorsed ‘fuck you we don’t care’ send out a set that shows this band mean business. And, even somewhat perversely, I believe them. If my mum were here she would probably file for adoption.

Sunday gigs are hard to promote, Lord knows I know – having spent over a year of my life doing it week in week out. But Setting Son and RDE have delivered this end of the weekend ensemble with fine fettle, setting a backbone of local luminaries against a visiting headline act who well deserve the attention. And, wonderfully, there was a good crowd to receive it. Even if the previous 48 hours have left the room’s frontal cortex a little bereft… well, mine at least.

Ha, and now to write a review about it (my ‘get it down as soon as you get home’ policy). But beyond ‘research Whitelight’, ‘The Hungry Ghosts’ new stuff’, ‘buy The Lizards a drink’ and ‘see Lice play on their home turf’, the South Park back catalogue is about all I have left. I bet Burroughs never had this problem. Possibly a bad comparison. Now, where’s that corkscrew and laptop power cable gone…

Lice @ Hare & Hounds 12.08.18 / Paul Reynolds

For more on Lice, visit www.facebook.com/licebristol

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The Lizards – supporting Lice @ Hare & Hounds 12.08.18 / Paul Reynolds

For more on The Lizards, visit www.soundcloud.com/allyourfriendsarelizards

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The Hungry Ghosts – supporting Lice @ Hare & Hounds 12.08.18 / Paul Reynolds

For more on The Hungry Ghosts, visit www.thehungryghosts.co.uk

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Whitelight – supporting Lice @ Hare & Hounds 12.08.18 / Paul Reynolds

For more on Whitelight, visit www.officialwhitelight.com

For more from Setting Son, including further event listings and online ticket sales, visit www.facebook.com/settingsonrecords

For more on the Hare & Hounds, including venue details and further event listings, visit www.hareandhoundskingsheath.co.uk

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NOT NORMAL – NOT OK is a campaign to encourage safety and respect within live music venues, and to combat the culture of sexual assault and aggression – from dance floor to dressing room.

To sign up to NOT NORMAL – NOT OK, click here. To know more about the NOT NORMAL – NOT OK sticker campaign, click here.

September 2, 2018September 2, 2018

BREVIEW: Paul Weller @ Genting Arena 24.08.18

Words & pics by Eleanor Sutcliffe

You can spot Paul Weller fans from a mile off. Clad in Fred Perry polo shirts and jeans, and finished off with a Harrington jacket, the Genting Arena is teeming with them. It looks like everyone has stepped out of the 80s, back when The Jam were at the height of their career.

Since Weller first emerged as The Modfather back in the day, he has released a total of 26 albums with three different ensembles. His 14^th as a solo artist, True Meanings, is scheduled for release on 14^th September. As a musician who has been performing since before I was born, I decided to bring along the biggest Paul Weller expert I know – my dad, who has been listening to Weller since he was 15 and is brutally honest after a pint or two.

As a rescheduled show, having postponed the original March gig due to severe weather conditions – namely ‘the beast from the east’ – the Genting Arena isn’t as busy as I had anticipated; many fans have not been able to make it to the new date, and the new seating arrangements which have been put in place have got some that could angry and frustrated. We slowly weave our way through disgruntled men and women before settling in by the sound desk for the evening.

Paul Weller’s stage is surprisingly bare. Having shot my fair share of shows in the Genting Arena, I have become accustomed to bizarre stage set ups, with CO2 cannons, pyro, and just about every visual prop you can think of. He’s forgone all this for two simple black and white film screens each side of the stage to broadcast his performance. A brave move for someone in this day and age, however somehow it works. Weller’s audience aren’t here for the theatrics – they’ve been lifelong fans, many of them listening to his material since they were in their teens.

Kicking off his set with ‘White Sky’ from his 12^th album Saturns Pattern, we’re treated to a 29 song setlist which spans the entire of Weller’s career. While his newer material such as ‘Woo Sé Mama’ certainly gets people swaying, it’s not surprising that it’s material from his days in The Jam and The Style Council which garners the best reaction tonight; after people head for the bar during ‘Long Time’, they’re soon racing back in to dance along to ‘Man in a Corner Shop’.

It must be hard playing to a crowd who only seem to want to hear the classics, as many leave the arena to grab refreshments during Weller’s more recent songs. As an artist who has expressed numerous times his desire to move away from his Modfather days, I can only imagine his frustration at playing new material to a room who seem more interested in the contents of a ‘greatest hits’ compilation from The Jam. Every time a tech appears on stage clutching a telecaster guitar, the crowd begin to whoop excitedly, knowing they’re about to hear yet another 80’s throwback.

Despite this, Weller is in good spirits and glides effortlessly between instruments, dabbing with a grand piano during tracks like ‘You Do Something to Me’. His performance is top notch, which is impressive considering the different genres we are treated to throughout the night. From the Britpop style of ‘That’s Entertainment’ to the folk ballad ‘Wild Wood’, Weller and his backing band flit seamlessly between styles with ease.

He’s also the only artist I have ever witnessed to do not one, but two encores, although this confuses the crowd somewhat and results in a third of them leaving before he performs ‘Town Called Malice’. To my amusement, a gentleman in front of us begins to clap his crutches excitedly over his head while screaming along to the chorus. It’s a sight to behold.

Taking a bow along with his band to rapturous applause from the room, I’m excited to see what style we’ll be treated to when True Meanings is released in September. And whilst the album’s early releases and cited collaborations point towards his more folk focused songwriting, the beauty with Paul Weller’s music is that it truly could be anything.

For more on Paul Weller, visit www.paulweller.com

For more on Stone Foundation, visit www.stonefoundation.co.uk

For more on the Genting Arena, including venue details and further event listings, visit www.gentingarena.co.uk

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NOT NORMAL – NOT OK is a campaign to encourage safety and respect within live music venues, and to combat the culture of sexual assault and aggression – from dance floor to dressing room.

To sign up to NOT NORMAL – NOT OK, click here. To know more about the NOT NORMAL – NOT OK sticker campaign, click here.