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May 22, 2017May 22, 2017

BPREVIEW: Birmingham Pride @ Hurst St + various 27/8.05.17

Words by Ed King / Lead & parade pics by Michelle Martin (taken from Birmingham Pride 2015)

On Saturday 27^th and Sunday 28^th May, Birmingham Pride is back in the city – taking over various venues in Birmingham Gay Village (on and around Hurst Street) for their ‘Big Weekender’.

Tickets will need to be purchased, then exchanged or a wristband allowing you onto the main festival site. Advance tickets will be available from The Nightingale Club (Kent St) on Thursday 25 May from 4pm – 12midnight, then again on Friday 26 May from 12noon until 12midnight.

Wristbands can be bought over the Pride weekend, priced as: Weekend £40, Day £30, Pride by night (9pm onwards) £20. For direct information on tickets/wristbands, including full details on when, where and for how much, click here.

So unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ll know what Birmingham Pride is. If you don’t, then move you and your stone abode into the new millennium. Seriously, one of Birmingham biggest parties – with a parade that is possibly the only place outside of Shambala where you’ll see more hairy fishnets than… some joke about sailors and a haberdashery shop.

Awesome fun what/whomever your predilections, Birmingham Pride is in its 21^st year – picking up the mantle from previous mirror events to the London Pride, that ran sporadically in Brum from the early 70’s. Birmingham Pride as we know it today is a two day extravaganza, held on five separate festival stages with a deluge of fun and games in pretty much every bar within a stone’s throw of Hurst St.

Plus Birmingham Pride 2017 marks the 50^th anniversary since you can’t get locked up for being homosexual, kinda sorta. As long as you kept yourself behind closed doors. But ten years after the Wolfenden Report was published the Sexual Offences Act finally made it through parliament – repealing the draconian laws against homosexuality, as made by Henry VIII (oh yes, we move that fast…) and the 1885 Labouchere Amendment.

Even whilst being molasses slow, this was the first important step in challenging the discriminatory attitudes… sorry, publicly discriminatory attitudes of Britain’s political class when it came to consensual sex between men. Apparently Lesbians weren’t as threatening to the fabric of a decent, God fearing society.

And whilst 50 years is still not that long a time, the tide had to start somewhere; thank fuck, God bless, and another reason to raise a glass in the air this weekend.

Here’s a maraschino cherry pick from across Birmingham Pride 2017:

Saturday 27^th May

Pride Parade 2017 / Assembling in Victoria Square from 11am, ready to ‘wind its way’ through the city and down to the festival site, the Birmingham Pride Parade is as colouful an explosion as you can get. Celebrating half a century of less nonsense, Birmingham Pride have set the theme of Love & Pride for this year’s show of solidarity.

If you want to get involved or enter a float, you might just have some time too – click here for more info.

Duo Lipa / Headlining the Main Stage, the English born singer/ songwriter and model will be releasing her debut album about a week after Birmingham Pride – with Birmingham Pride of the only chances to see her perform before an international festival season takes her out of England until October.

For more on Duo Lipa performing at Birmingham Pride, click here.

Basement Jaxx – DJ set / Exciting enough even when it’s just Felix, Simon and a box of vinyl (or whatever the kids are spinning these days) Basement Jaxx will be DJing a headline slot on the Main Stage. With a pretty stella discography of club hits and foot stamping dance floor anthems, stretching back to 1994, Basement Jaxx have been purveyors of the Big-Beat-Disco-House sound for longer than there was a name to call it. I could run through a list if you need me to, but I won’t – just Google ‘Red Alert’ then crawl back under your rock.

For more on Basement Jaxx performing at Birmingham Pride, click here.

Other names to watch out for on the Saturday line up are: Rue Jay (Dance Arena), Tanya Hyde (Cabaret Marquee), Amy La Queefa (Women’s Arena), Ellé Robertson (Women’s Arena), Sandi G (Dance Arena), Topping & Butch (Cabaret Arena), Son of a Tutu (Cabaret Marquee), Jonas Blue (Main Stage), Louisa Johnson (Main Stage), RAYE (Main Stage), Pete Graham (Dance Arena), Jamie Duggan (Dance Arena), DJ Lisa Sharred (Women’s Arena).

Sunday 28^th May

Twiggy / Clubland legend and fashion designer for the bastard child of Ziggy Stardust and Tinkerbelle, Twiggy will be performing in the Cabaret Marquee on the weekend’s second day. If you haven’t been hit on or refused entry by this local luminary of lustre and sparkles, then you should have gone out more. Wouldn’t be a proper party without Twiggy’s extravagant headdress bobbing around somewhere in the crowd.

For more on Twiggy performing at Birmingham Pride, click here.

Call Me Unique / The Urban Gypsy comes back to Birmingham Pride, performing a last day live set in the Women’s Arena. Hot on the heels of her new Urban Gypsy II EP, Call Me Unique is touring her new material across the UK and mainland Europe. Always worth a stop, look & listen, you can read more about Call Me Unique as seen through the eyes of Birmingham Review here.

Or for more on Call Me Unique performing at Birmingham Pride 2017, click here.

Charlotte Church’s Late Night Pop Dungeon / Born out of the festival cabaret circuit the Late Night Pop Dungeon is a den of musical iniquity where Wales’ Voice of an Angel gets to dirty her wings one tip at a time. Pop classics to contemporary hits, from MIA to Sufjan Steven, Charlotte Church’s Late Night Pop Dungeon looks hella fun – no pun intended. Now on tour across the UK, it’s hard to think of a better booking for Birmingham Pride’s Sunday crowd.

For more on Charlotte Church’s Late Night Pop Dungeon at Birmingham Pride, click here.

Other names to watch out for on the Saturday line up are: Vicki Vivacious (Marquee Arena), Zara Sykes (Women’s Arena), Gabrielle (Main Stage), Jamelia (Main Stage), Sophie Ellis-Bextor (Main Stage), Boney M (Main Stage), Kissy Sell Out (Dance Arena), Marc Spence (Dance Arena), Tom Shorterz (Dance Arena), Todd Terry (Dance Arena), D.E. Experience (Marquee Arena), Miss Penny (Cabaret Marquee), Madi Saskia (Women’s Arena).

Birmingham Pride takes place from 27-8th May, with the main festival situated on Hurst Street. The Birmingham Pride Parade will leave Victoria Square at 12noon on Saturday 27th May – heading for the festival site on Hurst Street.

For more on Birmingham Pride, including the festival’s full line up and layout, visit www.birminghampride.com

May 10, 2017May 10, 2017

BREVIEW: Call Me Unique’s Urban Gypsy II EP – launch night @ Mama Roux’s 05.05.17

Words by Ed King / Pics by Michelle Martin & Ed King

‘You’ve always had the power to go back…’

It’s here: the day in question, of reckoning, red letter. Call Me Unique is launching her Urban Gypsy II EP tonight, three years since its predecessor came off stage at The Yardbird, with a smorgasboard showcase at Mama Roux’s – the raw and raucous live music sponge in the Rainbow portfolio. And I’ve seen the running order; I kid you not there’s over ten artists joining Unique on stage, with an average of five minutes to perform and turn around. I’d make a joke, but it’s an important day.

Known for many years as the Girl-With-The-Guitar (and still on some bus routes) Call Me Unique has been frustratingly close to something for some time. Her combination of soul, rap, jazz, verse and scat, peppered with flecks of folk and bonfire laments, has been circling the thermals for a while; deserving of adulation beyond this city, whilst gaining some ground in London and Europe (based out of Budapest) Call Me Unique has sorely needed a win. Not a pat on the back, not a friend saying ‘well done’, a win. And the only way this was going to happen, to really happen, to happen in a way that would push this all forward, was the holy trinity: write, record, release.

So, no pressure then.

Walking into Mama Roux’s the first thing I notice are the numbers. Full room – check. Next are the people who make up those numbers – a regular line up of musicians and music professionals, with some healthy creative faces on the periphery to even things out. Then there’s what I can only assume are Mama Roux’s regular crowd or the throng that attend Digbeth Dining Club, with a handful trapped at two iron mesh tables by the front of the stage. I maybe address that one.

But before anyone can say ‘shall we sit upstairs’ the stage begins, with Unique and guests walking us through the EP that started ‘the Urban Gypsy Experience’ a handful of years ago. ‘Stranger’ is up first, with rappers Trademark Blud and Boy October (aka Christian Deveaux) giving some significant punch to my favourite track from Urban Gypsy I, before trading places with Kezia Soul and Simon Jnr for ‘Here’.

The eponymous track gets Lady Sanity and RTKal up on stage, always good to see, before the pinnacle performance of the first half from Jugganaut and Malik MD7 – bouncing ‘Bombs & Wars’ around the room and back again. So far this is going extremely well. Then Ed Geater and Affie Jam join Call Me Unique to perform ‘Sholow’, with Geater’s vocal leading the song in a memorable Bill Withers moment. It’s not often you see these three on stage without guitars in their hands; wouldn’t mind that happening again.

N.B. Ed Geater produced Call Me Unique’s Urban Gypsy II EP, that’s why he is on stage tonight. All the other artists are here from love, affinity, involvement or love. Life is quite simple.

Round Two is a showcase of Urban Gypsy II, the full EP getting performed with a selection of guests – kicking off, as the god of track listing intended, with the dreamlike ‘Dreamers’. A surprisingly effective cover of ‘Genie in a Bottle’ comes up next, with a mix of vox pops and ‘eerie sounds’ taking us into ‘Birds’ – the second track from the EP in question.

The rib digging ‘Only Girl in Manville’ gets a darker delivery, as the band step back to let the words speak for themselves, before the first (noticeable, at least) slip up on a running order that could have been Chrystal Maze challenge. But without missing a beat, figuratively or literally, a quick crowd search then a “come on up here girl” pulls Tina Amana up on stage for the ‘Say My Name’ cover, who I haven’t seen with Unique since the Sun at the Station gig back in March 2015. It’s a beautiful silver lining, and represents the genuine love and support that fills up this room tonight. They even share a mic. Although that was more a technical issue than some crazed close quarter duet.

Leanne Louise is our next guest of honour, as her and Unique banter back and forth with ‘Hashtag’; no egos, a shared stage and joint presence. Job done. Then a journey back to the source with ‘The Wife’, before the final two tracks from Call Me Unique’s new EP, ‘Shoulda’ and ‘Ashon’, gets their turn in the spotlight tonight. There’s a lot of personal exposure on Urban Gypsy II but perhaps these two tracks are amongst the more visceral – challenging hypocritical fists in the former and honouring a ‘son who never got to breathe’ in the latter. But I’ll sum up the end of this set, of this gig, of this obstacle course release, in one word. Strength. Even with tears streaming down your face.

Call Me Unique has a few more to add anyway, with her standard call to “support local artists” getting sandwiched with a more mature declaration of strength. There’s that word again. But oddly, perhaps, perhaps not, it was the call to “make this our home” that I walk out of the venue carrying closest. The Yardbird was an important playground for Call Me Unique and others; full of talent, ambition and garrulous endevour. It meant a lot to many. And whilst I’ve only been in Mama Roux’s a handful of times I’m old enough to see something unfolding itself here, tonight, with an honest soul at the centre. And I can all too easily be a cynic.

So go out and buy Urban Gypsy II, support your local music scene, support your local music venues. Do as she says. And someone, somewhere under the arches in Digbeth, with an address book and a diary, should start seriously clicking their heals together.

‘…there’s no place like home.’

Call Me Unique’s Urban Gypsy II EP is out now, launched at Mama Roux’s on Friday 5th May. For more on Call Me Unique, including online sales of Urban Gypsy II, visit www.callmeunique.com

For more from Mama Roux’s, including a full events programme and online ticket sales, visit www.therainbowvenues.co.uk/venues/mama-rouxs

May 4, 2017May 4, 2017

BPREVIEW: Call Me Unique’s Urban Gypsy II EP – launch night @ Mama Roux’s 05.05.17

Words by Ed King

On Friday 5^th May, Call Me Unique will launch her new Urban Gypsy II EP at Mama Roux’s.

Doors open at 8:30pm, with kicking out time bang on the witching hour. Entry is a curious ‘Pay as You Feel’, but it would be worth saving some shekles for a copy of the Urban Gypsy II EP itself which will be on sale for the first time on Friday. Plus there’s a bar and Digbeth Dining Club… For more direct gig info, click here.

That being said, you’re going to get more artists on stage than is probably good for you – so throwing some money at the rider bill might be a considerate gesture. Joining Call Me Unique will be Ed Geater, Leanne Louise, Malik MD7, Lady Sanity, Trademark Blud, Boy October (Christian Deveaux), RTKal, Keziasoul, Affie Jam, Juggernaut, Simon Jnr. Plus ‘a few surprises’, which could well be the fire department turning up to make sure there’s still room on stage.

It’s a local luminary love in, celebrating a new body of work from Call Me Unique getting its first on stage outing. And why not, damn it. Birmingham Review was there for the Urban Gypsy I EP launch in 2014 where the same good vibes and good will PACKED OUT The Yardbird on a cold Monday in January, and we’ve have been chomping at several bits for the past… three years, three months and eight days to hear the follow up. There’s an album lurking in the background somewhere too; big things this year, as the girl with the guitar grows ever closer to a more mature spotlight.

Urban Gypsy I was a storming EP; you can read my BREVIEW of the release here and the BREVIEW of The Yardbird launch party here. Its only misstep was not having an album to back it up. Time past, creative frustrations grew, Call Me Unique started building a significant fan base in mainland Europe and I honestly didn’t know if we’d get our second pound of flesh from this artist.

Then, eventually, a ZIP file of Urban Gypsy II lands in my inbox; I’ll admit more than a few nails didn’t make it that morning.

Produced by Ed Geater, Call Me Unique’s Urban Gypsy II EP is a ‘richer landscape’ than its predecessor, with 6 tracks (including the beautiful ‘Dreamers’ intro) of honest intent. Moments more ‘dark and brooding’, then mournful, are followed by a playful lilt and, ultimately, hope; there’s a definite step up in both the confidence and sound of this EP.

The content has matured too, with Call Me Unique shining a unashamed light on some deeply personal subject matter: domestic violence, ‘a son who never got to breathe’, love, the betrayal of love, fickleness, friendship, the fight for mental health, and above all a woman’s strength to stay in the game and smile whilst winning it. It’s beautiful, worth the wait, and as I said in my BREVIEW of the lead single ‘Shoulda’, brings a ‘proud treble clef tear to my eye’. Birmingham has some incredible talent at the moment, with Call Me Unique and her peers that appear on this EP being amongst the top strata. Proud is the word.

Ed Geater, a man whose name has been on this site a few times recently, has also mastered the production (if you’ll excuse the wording). Proving to be just as talented behind the glass as his is on stage, Geater’s work on Call Me Unique’s Urban Gypsy II EP is exactly what you’d want from a producer – pulling the strong strands from an artist, getting them to own their own, then tying them together for the world to understand.

But you’ll get to see/hear for yourself soon enough. So hold on until the end of the week, get yourself to Mama Roux’s or the various online outlets, check out Urban Gypsy II, then watch all those eager years and crossed fingers start to fade… fade… fade… Just add album.

Call Me Unique’s Urban Gypsy II EP – launch night @ Mama Roux’s 05.05.17

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Call Me Unique launches her Urban Gypsy II EP at Mama Roux’s on Friday 5^th May – for direct gig info, click here. For more on Call Me Unique, visit www.callmeunique.com

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For more from Mama Roux’s, including a full events programme and online ticket sales, visit www.therainbowvenues.co.uk/venues/mama-rouxs

May 2, 2017

THE GALLERY: Ed Geater @ Hare & Hounds 24.03.17

*Ed’s note… To catch Ed Geater on stage again, he will performing with Call Me Unique on Friday 5^th May – as part of her Urban Gypsy II EP launch party at Mama Roux’s. For direct gig info, click here.

To read our Birmingham Review of ‘Shoulda’, the debut single from Urban Gypsy II produced by Ed Geater, click here.

Words by Ed King / Pics by Rob Hadley

On March 24th, Ed Geater brought the final show of his UK tour to the Hare & Hounds – playing to a packed out Venue 2. On stage support (there was a fair amount off stage too) came from Amy Louise Ellis, Dee Ajayi and Bear – aka Gordon Begard and Faye Smith. Guest appearances were not in short supply either, with Lady Sanity and even Ed Geater’s brother, Charlie, joining him on stage.

Birmingham Review had caught up with Ed Geater before he set our across the UK; to read Giles Logan’s interview click here.

A high octane local love in, with a range of genres covered and crossed over, it was a fitting end to Ed Geater’s first multi date headline endevour. Or ‘tour’, as it’s known in the trade. Well supported by the music scene he constantly champions, the Hare & Hounds homecoming was a well endorsed affair; a strong start to a promising year.

But 2017 is not all about the live circuit, a place talented troubadours can get lost in, with Ed Geater popping up on a few credit notes – on 5th May Call Me Unique’s Urban Gypsy II EP is released, as produced by Ed Geater. Then on 16th June Ed Geater and Lady Sanity release their collaborative single, ‘Found a Place’, two weeks after a showcase gig featuring both artists at mac on 2nd June.

“I’m so excited to be releasing ‘Found A Place’ with Lady Sanity,” explains Ed Geater. She really is one of Birmingham’s most exciting talents right now, and the combination of our different styles has sparked something original and fresh. I’m looking forward to what will be a special night at mac. I remember going there as a child and seeing all sorts of creative, exciting things going on, so to be playing a headline show there with great support gives me a very warm feeling.” A rising balloon, both on stage and behind the glass; this could be a big year for Team Geater.

For direct gig info & tickets for Ed Geater, Lady Sanity and Andrew Souter at mac on 2nd June, click here.

But first things first; Rob Hadley was at Ed Geater’s homecoming show at the Hare & Hounds – shooting an extended photo feature to go into THE GALLERY, for Birmingham Review. See a selection of Rob Hadley’s shots below or click on the Full Flickr of Pics links. Check out the Birmingham Review Instagram page too.

N.B. Rob also shot a series of profile pics with Ed Geater, to run alongside his interview with Giles Logan. There’s a triptych of portrait shots at the end of this GALLERY, but to view the Full Flickr of Ed Geater Profile Pics click here.

A special thanks to the Hare & Hounds for letting us take over their top office for the interview shoot – awesome setting too, loving the records.

Ed Geater @ Hare & Hounds 24.03.17 / Rob Hadley – Birmingham Review

For more on Ed Geater, visit www.edgeater.co.uk

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Bear – supporting Ed Geater @ Hare & Hounds 24.03.17 / Rob Hadley – Birmingham Review

For more on Bear, visit www.soundcloud.com/bearmusic1

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Dee Ajayi – supporting Ed Geater @ Hare & Hounds 24.03.17 / Rob Hadley – Birmingham Review

For more on Dee Ajayi, visit www.soundcloud.com/dee_ajayi

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Amy Louise Ellis – supporting Ed Geater @ Hare & Hounds 24.03.17 / Rob Hadley – Birmingham Review

For more on Amy Louise Ellis, visit www.facebook.com/AmyLouiseElliis

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Ed Geater @ Hare & Hounds / Rob Hadley – Birmingham Review

To see the Full Flickr of Profile Pics, click here. For more on Ed Geater, visit www.edgeater.co.uk

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

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

April 7, 2017April 7, 2017

BREVIEW: ‘Shoulda’ – Call Me Unique

Words by Ed King

It’s been a few years since Call Me Unique released her Urban Gypsy EP – the sterling 7 track mark in the sand that got crossed fingers everywhere twitching for an album. But the world is not fairy-tale with lottery ticket trees, and life got in the way. Relationship, representation, repatriation… radio silence.

But today, Friday 7^th April, in the year of our lord 2017, Call Me Unique has released ‘Shoulda’ – the first single off her upcoming Urban Gypsy II EP, set for release on 5^th May. Hallelujah. And the big question lurking behind every word is… was it worth the wait?

Yes, is the short answer. But ‘I’ll tell you why’ is where it gets interesting. And as the 4min self declaration of self determination unfolds, you’ll probably get spikes down your spine to illustrate my point. Honesty. Ah… that seven letter word that Call Me Unique has had in bucket loads ever since we first heard her perform ‘The Wife’ on Radio WM. But ‘Shoulda’ is something different, something visceral; it’s tough about being tough. It’s about fuck you and survival, and just typing these words brings a proud treble clef tear to my eye. Go and listen to it and you’ll see/hear what I mean.

Dark and brooding, in all the best ways you can be, ‘Shoulda’ opens with echoed effects and muffled kick drums, before Unique’s tempered vocals set a steady pace and start telling their story. The tone is similar to Urban Gypsy I but there’s a richer landscape. Unique’s lyrics have matured in three years too – whatever girl was behind the raw six string wonders that first introduced us to this artist, now stands as a woman who doesn’t need to shout to be heard.

The pace, alongside the lyrics, is another step up. There’s a control to it, a bravery; even when the rap gets delivered there is no edge of ego. Everything in this track has its place because that’s how it works. Because that’s what she came here to say. Confidence.

A lot of this, I suspect, has come from the production partnership with Ed Geater who has stepped behind the glass for Urban Gypsy II. Geater has done the job a producer should do – find the power in an artist, bring it out of them and onto a record. You get the sense the rest of the EP is going to have some colourful twists in it too.

But these plaudits have been heard before and Call Me Unique is arguably not where she should or deserves to be. Yet. The quality and evolution of ‘Shoulda’ sets a solid precedent, but it needs to be followed with an EP and album that will confidently dust off the cobwebs. This should, no ‘a’, be a strong year for Call Me Unique. Next stop May 5^th.

‘Shoulda’ – Call Me Unique

For more on Call Me Unique, visit www.callmeunique.com