damienrussell Archives - Page 6 of 6 -

February 13, 2017February 13, 2017

BPREVIEW: Rews @ The Flapper 15.02.17

Words by Ed King

On Wednesday 15^th February, Rews perform at The Flapper – with support from MUTT + Ember Weir.

Doors open at 7:30pm with tickets price at £6 (advance), as presented by Birmingham Promoters. For direct gig info, including online tickets sales, click here.

I’ve never fully landed what ‘sassy’ means, lying somewhere in my mind between a film noir femme fatale and a patronised Pankhurst. Apparently Rews are sassy, and if I was writing their press release I’d probably land on some 50cent word or another. But for the benefit of this introduction I’m going to borrow five words from online magazine Ceol Caint – ‘this is really fucking good’.

The bastard child of ‘songstress Shauna Tohill and vocalising beat-rocker Collette Williams’, Rews have a defiant edge. It’s certainly ‘high energy’ and definitely ‘infectious’, or as Joe Donnelly put next to their name ‘if you’re not instantly foot-tapping then you must be clinically dead’.

Other words that can get banded around band town (often with nothing but wishful thinking behind them) are ‘one to watch’, and Rews have been given this citation more than once. But with an impressive list of festival appearances and on air endorsements to back up the claim, this might well be true. And it certainly looks like Rews haven’t finished yet. Plus the thought of seeing what will come off stage at The Flapper, a fervent venue known for live music, is a suitable punt for a sub-tenner ticket price. So Rews are one to watch until Thursday at least.

But there’s a useful thing about bands, their music. It kind of cuts through the hyperbole, rhetoric, loaded opinion or sponsored content. And to be honest I was switching off from Rews until I clicked on the link to their latest single, ‘Miss You in the Dark’ – which is, to me, not even their best. But fuck me sideways with a cucumber sandwich; Rews‘
punk-pop-gritted-smile-velvet-glove-punch is… well, refer back to the Ceol Caint appraisal I reckon.

There’s an easier way to do this too…

‘Miss You in the Dark’ – Rews

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSkBS8J_qhk

Rews performs at The Flapper on Wednesday 15^th February, as presented Birmingham Promoters. For direct gig info and online tickets sales, click here.

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For more on Rews, visit www.rewsmusic1.wordpress.com

For more from The Flapper, including full event listing and online ticket sales, visit www.theflapper.co.uk

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

January 29, 2017

BREVIEW: The Hunna @ O2 Institute 23.01.17

Words by Damien Russell / Pics by Rob Hadley

You know you’re in for a good night when it’s door opening time and there are staff making sure the roads aren’t blocked. Monday night and a queue around the corner kind of good.

The 2,900-person capacity venue had enough room to get to the bar, just, and with crowd-surfing and moshing all through the evening these two young bands clearly instill excitement and enthusiasm in their fans.

High Tyde, a 4-piece like The Hunna, hit the stage with great energy and great reactions from the crowd. They kept the tempo high until the very end and only the introduction to ‘Dark Love’ showed a bit of a softer side we might see develop over time. As The Hunna said of them during their own set, High Tyde “smashed it”.

The Hunna came out to another great response from the crowd. A bit slow to start after their introduction music, but when they did kick in with ‘You & Me’ they kicked in hard. Singer/guitarist, Ryan Potter, sounded a little tired to begin with and I did wondered if the road was wearing them down. But The Hunna seem to be a band that feeds off the love from the crowd and kept building momentum up to the end of the night.

The Hunna have a real gift for writing a sing-a-long chorus and the crowd knew them all, every word. Ryan Potter let the crowd take the lead more than once or twice, basking in having his lyrics sung back to him.

But the highlight of the night was ‘We Could Be’, tucked into the last third of the set; a real powerhouse of a song, it’s clear why it’s one of The Hunna’s singles. Although somehow it felt like the end of the set and I half expected to see them to just walk off, but ‘Rock My Way’ and ‘Bonfire’ followed in quick succession. The actual ending (before the inevitable encore) was a proper rock show of feedback and noise; the roar of a crowd still hungry for hits.

The Hunna finished with a three song encore of ‘World is Ours’, ‘Brother’ and finally ‘Bad For You’ – all kicked off with another piece of musical Interlude. Again, the interlude and song didn’t quite flow smoothly; between this and some of Ryan Potter’s clichéd ‘Best Audience Ever’ style patter, I felt the edge was knocked off their performance. I’ve heard all the old rock lines used before and this gig brought no new ones to add to the list.

That said, throughout their set it was clear that The Hunna are totally into their music and love every note. Definitely a good night. And after the encore it was no less busy outside, but nobody seemed in a rush to go home and admit it was all over.

For more on The Hunna, visit www.facebook.com/thehunnaband

For more on High Tyde, visit www.wearehightyde.com

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

For more from Kilimanjaro Live, including full event listing and online ticket sales, visit www.myticket.co.uk

January 28, 2017

BPREVIEW: RedFaces @ The Sunflower Lounge 29.01.17

Words by Damien Russell

January 29^th sees The Sunflower Lounge host an evening of all out guitar rock music from some real up and coming talent: RedFaces – supported by Summer Loving Torture Party, Autopilot and Spoort.

Doors open at 19:30 with a 23:00 curfew, with tickets at £5.00 plus any booking fees – as presented by Birmingham Promoters. For direct gig info, including venue details and online ticket sales, click here.

RedFaces come to The Sunflower Lounge for the sixth of a 17 date UK tour, spanning from their sold out home town show in Sheffield to Swansea, Glasgow, Plymouth and many towns in between.

RedFaces have already made a bit of an impression on the industry, and rightly so. Times have changed with self-publishing, Youtube and reality TV shows now the more standard road to stardom, but not so for these boys. Signed to the major record label RCA, RedFaces are walking the old path where talent is the main lead and the charts follow.

Straight out of doing their A-Levels, RedFaces are keen to make the move to being fully professional musicians, saying ‘music’s the only thing we can see ourselves doing at the minute and I can’t imagine doing anything else right now’. Join the queue gents, and it might be a long one.

But RedFaces are a blisteringly good new guitar group, one that remind me a little of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club but with even more attitude. Check out RedFace’s new single below:

‘Kerosene’ – RedFaces

Redfaces perform at The Sunflower Lounge on Sunday 29^th January, with support from Summer Loving Torture Perty, AutoPilot, Spoort – as presented Birmingham Promoters. For direct gig info and online tickets sales, click here.

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For more on RedFaces, visit www.redfacesmusic.com

For more on Summer Loving Torture Party, visit www.souncloud.com/sltp

For more on AutoPilot, visit www.facebook.com/autopilotmusicuk

For more on Spoort, visit www.souncloud.com/spoort

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

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

January 20, 2017January 20, 2017

BPREVIEW: The Hunna @ O2 Institute 23.01.17

Words by Damien Russell / Pics courtesy of Warner

On the 23^rd of January, the O2 Institute will host The Hunna on their 100 album headline tour – with support from Brighton based, High Tyde. This is The Hunna‘s eighth date of an 11 date UK tour, starting in Edinburgh and ending in London.

Doors will be opening a 19:00 with a 23:00 curfew. A ticket for this show is £15.50 + booking fees – as presented by Kilimanjaro Live. For direct gig info, including venue details and online ticket sales, click here.

As a lover of live music I’m often scrolling through local events and taking a look at who’s on, doing a bit of digging into bands I’ve heard a bit about and generally browsing. It can feel like a rare thing, these days, to come across a group that has the ‘Rock Band’ look and feel… then there’s The Hunna.

The Hunna (sort of) started some time ago with Dan and Jermaine learning to play guitar together. But (officially) it was in 2015 where the addition of Ryan, a college friend, and Jack meant the guys finally had a four piece Rock outfit.

They wasted little time in getting their singles out there, with ‘Bonfire’ coming out in October 2015 and ‘We Could Be’ in early 2016. This was followed by sets at the Reading/Leeds and Dot-to-Dot Festivals, alongside a BBC Introducing set. Although by then they needed little introducing to some. The Hunna rounded off summer by releasing their debut album, 100, in August 2016.

A colloquialism of ‘hundred’, The Hunna say their name ‘reflects giving 100% and being true to ourselves, which we like to think we do in our music’ and their actions so far seem to support it. Fresh off a support tour with Jimmy Eat World, they’re already back on the road touring their 16-track debut.

Plus they look like an old school Rock band, they’ve put an album out five tracks longer than most, and have come straight off a major support tour onto a headline tour of their own, even taking their own support band, High Tyde, with them. On January 23^rd Birmingham will get to see exactly what that 100% attitude brings to the O2 Institute stage.

Anybody looking for a sneak preview, I recommend checking out ‘We Could Be’, below:

‘We Could Be’ – The Hunna

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elZEIFuOxYo

The Hunna perform at the O2 Institute on Monday 23^rd January, with support from High Tyde – as presented Kilimanjaro Live. For direct gig info and online tickets sales, click here.

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For more on The Hunna, visit www.facebook.com/thehunnaband

For more on High Tyde, visit www.wearehightyde.com

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

For more from Kilimanjaro Live, including full event listing and online ticket sales, visit www.myticket.co.uk