Eleanor Sutcliffe Archives - Page 11 of 11 -

November 20, 2017

BPREVIEW: PVRIS @ O2 Academy Birmingham 23.11.17

Words by Ed King

On Thursday 23^rd November, PVRIS come to the O2 Academy Birmingham – with support from Coin and Tyne.

Doors open at 7pm, with standard tickets priced at £19.50 (+bf) as presented by Live Nation. For direct gig info, including full venue details and online ticket sales, click here.

Formed in 2012, PVRIS began life as a metalcore five piece – hailing from the New England state of Massachusetts, in North East America. Leaving two band members and two names behind them, the now three piece PVRIS have carved a clear path for themselves in the land where rock meets electronica. Fronted by Lynn Gunn, with Alex Babinski and Brian Macdonald on lead and bass guitar respectively, their sound incorporates a tough pop tinged rock punch – with Gunn’s ferocious vocals leading a dark charge across the band’s brooding yet atmospheric and uplifting melodies. Imagine Ellie Goulding and The xx got in a bar fight with 30 Seconds to Mars…

PVRIS released their debut album, White Noise, through Rise Records in 2014 – with the bulk of material coming from Lynn Gunn, alongside Blake Harnage as the album’s producer. White Noise was a significant shift in sound, with a backbone of electronica behind the debut from a band that cut their teeth on the hardcore and metalcore circuits.

But it worked. White Noise received widespread thumbs up from the rock and wider music press and saw PVRIS booked on to several high profile tours as support, with their own UK headline gigs confidently selling out – one of which was at the O2 Academy Birmingham.

Now on the road with their sophomore album, All We Know of Heaven, All We Need of Hell, PVRIS return to Birmingham venue on Thursday 23^rd November.

Released in August 2017, All We Know of Heaven, All We Need of Hell has already garnered a deluge of positive reviews – with the album making the top 20’s on album charts in Australia, New Zealand, North America and the UK where it peaked at No4. The album’s lead single, ‘Heaven’, was premiered on Radio One on 30^th August 2017.

‘Heaven’ – PVRIS

PVRIS play the O2 Academy Birmingham on Thursday 23^rd November, with support from Coin and Tyne. For direct gig info, including full venue details and online ticket sales, click here.

For more on PVRIS, visit www.pvris.com

For more from the O2 Academy Birmingham, including full event listings and online ticket sales, visit www.academymusicgroup.com/o2academybirmingham

November 16, 2017

BPREVIEW: Royal Blood @ Arena Birmingham 18.11.17

Words by Eleanor Sutcliffe / Pics courtesy of Warner Music

Fresh from the release of their latest album How Did We Get So Dark?, Royal Blood will be playing at Arena Birmingham on Saturday 18^th November, with support coming in the form of Texan rockers At The Drive In and Brighton’s indie four piece, Black Honey.

Doors open at 5:30pm, with tickets priced at £22.90 (plus bf) as presented by SJM Concerts/Gigs and Tours. For direct gig information, including full set times, venue details and online ticket sales, click here.

Royal Blood are following this Birmingham date with numerous others across the UK. Please click here for full tour details.

It’s been an exciting year for Royal Blood. On the release of How Did We Get So Dark?, tracks such as ‘Hook, Line and Sinker’ and ‘Lights Out’ tore the UK charts apart earlier this year. The album itself reached No1 in the UK album charts – unsurprising, really, for a band who’ve been dubbed by critics from NME to The Telegraph as the next biggest thing in British rock.

Hailing originally from Brighton, the band have steadily been on the rise since the release of their debut single Out of The Black in 2013. From this, they scored several high profile shows including supporting the Arctic Monkeys in Finsbury Park, and later scooped a nomination for the BBC Sound of 2014 award.

It’s not hard to see why Royal Blood have become such a popular choice over the past few years. Their style is reminiscent of old garage rock, but they produce a heck of a lot of sound for just two people.

Royal Blood‘s vocalist, Mike Kerr, shunned a guitar, settling for a bass passed through an octave pedal that produces two signals, one of which heads to a bass amp and the other which runs to a guitar amp. This creates a sound so large and thunderous that it’s hard to believe that there’s not a full band behind the scenes. But that’s the sheer charm of this duo – their sound isn’t just big in the sense that they are a two piece, but it’s big enough to rival that of any other band.

With the 10 date Royal Blood UK tour beginning at the Manchester Arena on Thursday 16th November, and ending in their home town of Brighton on 29^th November, the stakes are high for this duo. And with nearly a sold out Arena awaiting them in Birmingham, I can only begin to imagine the reception they will receive when they land in the city on Saturday night.

‘How Did We Get So Dark?’ – Royal Blood

For more on Royal Blood, visit www.royalbloodband.com

For more on At The Drive In, visit www.atthedriveinmusic.com

For more on Black Honey, visit www.soundcloud.com/blackhoneyuk

For more from Birmingham Arena, including full event listings and online ticket sales, visit www.arenabham.co.uk

For more from Gigs and Tours/ SJM Concerts, visit www.gigsandtours.com

September 28, 2017September 27, 2017

BREVIEW: Mayday Parade – A Lesson in Romantics 10th Anniversary Tour @ O2 Institute 23.09.17

Words & by pics by Eleanor Sutcliffe

Whenever I’m asked to name my top five albums, Mayday Parade’s A Lesson in Romantics always manages to sneak itself onto the list. Whether it’s upbeat pop rock anthems such as ‘Black Cat’ or the drawling melancholy vocals of ‘Miserable At Best’, I’ve always had a soft spot for the album and would frequently listen to it when scoping out new bands became cumbersome. So when I heard that they would be playing a 10 year anniversary tour in celebration of its release, I felt compelled to attend.

First up at the O2 Institute were All Get Out – fronted by singer songwriter, Nathan Hussey. They opened strong, but soon bubbled down to a rather average performance. Musically you cannot fault them – tracks such as ‘Room to Talk’ were stellar and have crept their way onto my Spotify playlist. And their newest release, ‘Nobody Likes a Quitter’, is both half an hour of musical genius and something I cannot recommend enough. Sadly their support set just didn’t reflect this, but if you’re in a gig for the music and that only then these guys are for you.

I last saw With Confidence at this year’s Slam Dunk festival where they delivered a stellar show, and their support at the Mayday Parade gig is no exception. Hailing from Australia, the four piece owned the stage and easily won over the room with their opening song ‘Voldemort’ from their debut album Better Weather.

Their songs are short, loud and to the point – they came to play and that they did. Much of the crowd seemed to already be a fan, with individuals singing along word for word and flinging gifts on to the stage, one of which was a t-shirt consisting of numerous photos of guitarist Luke Rocket’s face. As a band gaining momentum fast, I’m excited to see what the future holds for the four of With Confidence.

Mayday Parade got off to a slightly shaky start, with front man Derek Sanders struggling slightly to keep up with the tempo of ‘Jamie All Over’. Nothing infuriates me more than someone singing offbeat, however the band soon enough redeemed themselves, following up with a flawless run through of each track on A Lesson in Romantics.

Songs like ‘Jersey’ and ‘When I Get Home, You’re So Dead’ were met with a cacophony of applause from the O2 Institute’s packed out main room. Soon enough, as Sanders sat down with a keyboard and belted out the hit song ‘Miserable At Best’, the crowd was reduced to a weeping mess (although with lyrics along the lines of ‘I can live without you but without you I’ll be miserable at best’ this came as no surprise).

Performing against a backdrop of the album artwork, and with the stage stripped back to its bare bones, Mayday Parade were free to let loose. It’s refreshing to watch a band with so much raw energy perform their songs as good as they did ten years ago.

And yet there was still room for surprises, as Sanders appeared onstage with an acoustic guitar and covered Something Corporate’s ‘Punk Rock Princess’ – a surprising choice that paid off well with the crowd. Following this was their song ‘Terrible Things’, which is the type of track you’d listen to on repeat while crying in your room as a teenager. I loved it.

Mayday Parade wrapped up the show with ‘Three Cheers for Five Years’ from their debut Tales Told By Dead Friends EP, ‘Kids in Love’ from their sophomore album Anywhere But Here, and ‘Oh Well, Oh Well’ from their third self-titled album. I was impressed at how well thought out the set was; album shows can be a tad predictable at times, so a set that included extra material without distracting from the main purpose of the gig was a plus.

Overall, Mayday Parade’s A Lesson in Romantics 10^th anniversary celebration show was everything I’d expected and more. Some albums simply never go out of style, and thank God this is one of them.

All Get Out – supporting Mayday Parade @ O2 Institute 23.09.17 / Eleanor Sutcliffe – Birmingham Review

For more from All Get Out, visit www.allgetoutmusic.com

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With Confidence – supporting Mayday Parade @ O2 Institute 23.09.17 / Eleanor Sutcliffe – Birmingham Review

For more on With Confidence, visit www.withconfidenceband.com

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Mayday Parade @ O2 Institute 23.09.17 / Eleanor Sutcliffe – Birmingham Review

For more on Mayday Parade, visit www.maydayparade.com

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

For more from SJM Concerts/Gigs and Tours, visit www.gigsandtours.com

September 22, 2017

BREVIEW: Beyond The Tracks… Saturday @ Eastside Park 16.09.17

Words by Damien Russell / Pics by Eleanor Sutcliffe

Morning has broken. Seemingly over my head. The choices of the night before, prompted by the engaging festival feel and the desire to get all dance-y, now seem like a catalogue of errors. The chance of getting breakfast slips away; I am forced to embrace the fact that lunch and a recovery pint are the only way forward.

And so, being in a pub already, this is what we do. Down the stairs, to the bar, a sandwich and a couple of pints of something light. Back to my usual self again. Ish. Thank goodness we didn’t try to do the ‘4am finishing’ after party or today may have been lost.

The Old Crown feels further away from the Beyond The Tracks festival site today, as Paul and I wend our way through the town. We make it through the entrance process to find Carl Barât and the Jackals both looking and sounding cool. They’re a good choice for the festival daytime being slightly rocky, slightly punky, and slightly indie; a good balance of appeal across the audience.

They’re energetic but not so energetic it puts my shuffling state to shame, and while no one song stands out the set overall is good. Something in their deportment keeps screaming ‘LONDON’ at me, but I would be hard pressed to say exactly what.

After this solid introduction to Beyond The Tracks’ Saturday programme, the festival’s second stage hosts Sandinistas from South Wales. Sporting a bass made more of tape than wood, an approachable charm, and punk rock to knock your socks off they’re a total change of atmosphere. Upbeat and fun, with some excellent banter from lead singer/guitarist, Dan Hagerty, Sandinistas do a great job of entertaining; Beyond The Tracks is the first time I’ve seen this band but I would be keen to catch them again.

Following Sandinistas, local lads The Twang take to the main stage. The Twang are a band I’ve heard a lot about but never seen before so, while I have an idea what to expect, I’m not too surprised to find my initial idea was totally wrong. It can happen. Musically reminiscent of The Streets in some ways, The Twang bring an urban edge to the day which, while not entirely my cup of hot beverage, does mix things up nicely.

The real star of the show is Phil Etheridge, having a laugh with the audience and swigging from a can of Red Stripe. Etheridge makes full use of the stage, which I like, and while I can’t help feeling his voice isn’t as strong as it could be, with the band covering the music and Etheridge covering the performance The Twang deliver and engaging and enjoyable set.

A quick trip to the bar is in order while The Americas finish setting up; as they get started I’m reminded why I was looking forward to seeing them. Although I’m slightly surprised they’re on the second stage as I would have expected their ‘American road trip’ styled rock to be ideal main stage material.

Somebody has to take the smaller stage though and with a solid, easily accessible sound The Americas make it their own. Still reminding me of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers in some ways, they continue the trend of bands either winning me over musically or by performance, but not both; it’s unfortunate, but with each of them being tied to an instrument the performance is a little static.

I think it’s fair to say at this point that, while I try not to be biased, with three such different days it’s incredibly difficult not to have a preference in some way. So, I give up and admit to myself that this, the middle day, is almost certainly going to be my favourite of the Beyond The Tracks triptych. That confessed, I have an open mind towards The Coral while also half expecting them to follow the day’s pattern and wow me with their performance over their music.

They don’t. The Coral are pretty static visually but musically their back-catalogue shines; ‘In the Morning’, as you may expect, goes down exceptionally well. The crowd is building up now and with more people comes more applause, more appreciation and more singing along. I was never massively into The Coral when they first hit the charts and found their sound to be confusing, somehow both new and old at the same time. Something about that always put me off a little bit but seeing them live, but they win me over at Beyond The Tracks and I plan to delve a little deeper when safely offsite.

It’s pit-stop time, following The Coral, and while I hate to miss any of Table Scraps’ performance having seen them earlier in the year I know they’ll do a top job. I do wonder if it’s the wrong day for them though, and to my mind they would possibly have been a better fit for Sunday. The good and bad thing with festivals, in equal measure, is that there’s always so much going on that you can’t catch everything. Plus at some point there must be a welfare break, and right now the Persian Kitchen is calling. And then the bar.

Sadly then, the last number is all I catch of Table Scraps’ set, but the crowd seem to be fully on board and I’m sure they’ve hit it as hard as they usually do.

This of course means that Maxïmo Park are about to start on the main stage. Having reviewed their latest album, Risk to Exist, earlier in the year and not being too impressed with it, I’m not holding much hope for their live set. If I’m honest, I’m almost biding my time until Ocean Colour Scene.

What a mistake. As soon as they start I can see and hear that Maxïmo Park mean business. The sound is spot on and they look cool; proper ‘rock-star’ cool. By the end of the first song, Maxïmo Park win me over and I’ve move as close as I can get to the stage.

Paul Smith, in particular, is excellent – climbing on the monitors, striding across the stage and generally coming across like a caged tiger. The band start with ‘What Did We Do To You To Deserve This?’ and power through to ‘Our Velocity’ and beyond. My biggest surprise of the day and a band I would heartily recommend seeing live.

At this point the crowd is super dense, so there’s not much chance of getting too close to Superfood on the second stage, but they sound decent from where I can get to (which you may have guessed is the bar). Musically they make a good follow on to Maxïmo Park and while the second stage doesn’t quite offer the same opportunity for a ‘big show’, Superfood maintain both the atmosphere and the crowd set by their predecessors.

In fact, with Ocean Colour Scene ever closer to coming on stage the crowd is swelling more than ever. And although the announcement of a reduced-price Sunday ticket for Saturday ticket holders gets a mixed reaction, the crowd is clearly buzzing with anticipation for the Saturday night headliners.

They sound great too. All the concerns I had about another situation like The Twang are instantly put to bed; Simon Fowler hasn’t lost any vocal clarity or power over the years, and Steve Craddock is as dexterous on the fretboard as he ever was. More so, perhaps, as he makes everything seem effortless.

In fact they all do, yet somehow that doesn’t come across well. It’s the same situation that has occurred throughout the day; musically Ocean Colour Scene are just as good live as on the records, they’re just not very visual.

They don’t seem to have brought much in the way of staging or lighting, with the band members almost fixed to their spots onstage. Ocean Colour Scene have also chosen quite a downbeat set for a headline act, starting with ‘Profit In Peace’ which in my mind is more of an anthemic closer than an opener.

That said, Ocean Colour Scene deliver all the back catalogue bucket list hits and the crowd singing along to ‘The Day We Caught The Train’ is a beautiful thing. Clearly Birmingham still has a great soft spot for this once Moseley mob, and while the atmosphere on stage could be better the atmosphere in the audience is something to behold.

As the last echoes of the amplifiers fade away, Beyond The Tracks’ Saturday crowd begins to move slowly back towards the city centre. I find it hard to imagine anyone not having had a good time today – passing happy face after happy face as we head back to our temporary nest at The Old Crown. Two down, one more to go.

Jaws – Beyond The Tracks @ Eastside Park 16.09.17 / Eleanor Sutcliffe

For more on Jaws, visit www.jawsjawsjaws.co.uk

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Sugarthief – Beyond The Tracks @ Eastside Park 16.09.17 / Eleanor Sutcliffe

For more on Sugarthief, visit www.soundcloud.com/sugarthiefuk

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Carl Barât and the Jackals – Beyond The Tracks @ Eastside Park 16.09.17 / Eleanor Sutcliffe

For more on Carl Barât and the Jackals, visit www.carlbaratandthejackals.com

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Sandinistas – Beyond The Tracks @ Eastside Park 16.09.17 / Eleanor Sutcliffe

For more on Sandinistas, visit www.sandinistas-uk.myshopify.com

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The Twang – Beyond The Tracks @ Eastside Park 16.09.17 / Eleanor Sutcliffe

For more on The Twang, visit www.thetwang.co.uk

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The Americas – Beyond The Tracks @ Eastside Park 16.09.17 / Eleanor Sutcliffe

For more on The Americas, visit www.soundcloud.com/theamericasyeah

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The Coral – Beyond The Tracks @ Eastside Park 16.09.17 / Eleanor Sutcliffe

For more on The Coral, visit www.thecoral.co.uk

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Table Scraps – Beyond The Tracks @ Eastside Park 16.09.17 / Eleanor Sutcliffe

For more on Table Scraps, visit www.table-scraps.bandcamp.com

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Maxïmo Park – Beyond The Tracks @ Eastside Park 16.09.17 / Eleanor Sutcliffe

For more on Maxïmo Park, visit www.maximopark.com

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Superfood – Beyond The Tracks @ Eastside Park 16.09.17 / Eleanor Sutcliffe

For more on Superfood, visit www.superfoodjunk.com

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Ocean Colour Scene – Beyond The Tracks @ Eastside Park 16.09.17 / Eleanor Sutcliffe

For more on Ocean Colour Scene, visit www.oceancolourscene.com

For more on Beyond The Tracks, visit www.beyondthetracks.org

September 9, 2017

BREVIEW: Queens of Comedy Extravaganza @ O2 Academy Birmingham 05.09.17

Words & pics by Eleanor Sutcliffe

Working as a music photographer prepares you for numerous things.

It doesn’t prepare you for drag queens cart wheeling into splits clad in platform heels and lingerie, or having a 10 inch silicone phallus thrown at you across the stage. Or being called a cunt in front of the O2 Academy’s sold out main room. It definitely doesn’t prepare you to find these things side splittingly hilarious.

Arriving at the O2 Academy, I was greeted with the most diverse, kaleidoscopic crowd I’ve ever seen. Groups of men and women snaked along the streets and up Bath Row as drag queens ran along the crowd, hugging fans and batting their false eyelashes while handing out Klub Kids flyers. Usually with any concert you can easily identify the standard show-goer demographic, but here it was simply impossible. Drag has no boundaries regarding its audience – clearly, anyone can enjoy it.

As the room filled up and the lights dimmed, I made my way to the front and sat in anticipation. Out onto the stage burst Andrew Hoyle, the head promoter for Klub Kids; exclaiming that tickets for their Twisted Circus tour were now on sale, he sold the room the show by promising “acrobats, and midgets, and acrobatic midgets” before welcoming on Bianca Del Rio.

Del Rio is what some people would describe as their worst nightmare – a six foot figure of immaculate makeup and savage wit, her comedy both hilarious and highly inappropriate for what was deemed a 14+ show. Within minutes of gracing the stage with her presence, she managed to insult at least half of the room. Girls filming the show were openly mocked, as Del Rio exclaimed that they would watch it at home whilst “flicking the bean”, much to their horror and to the sheer delight of their friends.

Not a minute later, I was branded an “utter cunt” by the queen herself for taking photos from an “unflattering” angle. And yet, none of us could stop laughing. Her humor was so dark, so abusive, so obscenely unaware of what was socially acceptable to say in a room full of a few thousand people, that you simply couldn’t help but find it utterly hilarious.

First up was Jackie Beat, as BenDeLaCreme was sick and not able to perform – according to Beat, this involved an altercation involving heels and stairs. Exclaiming how she would be combining “the two things gay men love most – Broadway musicals and sex”, she performed a smut smeared cover of ‘And I Am Telling You’ from Dreamgirls, followed by a hilarious rendition of ‘Baby Got Back’ by Sir Mix-A-Lot.

Next was Charlie Hides, who’s comedy was so quintessentially British that the whole room simply fell in love with her. Her humor, though scathing, was smart and witty. She described one drag queen as being “rather like Joan of Ark – creative ideas, but badly executed”, leaving the entire room in stitches.

As one of the few queens of the night that did not rely simply on sexual puns or insulting other performers, she stuck out to me as one of the highlights of the show. Her original song ‘I Don’t Care If You Think I’m A Bitch As Long As You Think I’m Thin’ was not to my taste, however that didn’t stop it going down a storm with the rest of the room; although to me musically she fell flat, I could have easily watched her comedy for hours.

Next was an interval performance by London and Manchester based dance group, House of Decay. Watching them twist and contort their bodies into shapes that I was not aware were even humanly possible, I was brutally reminded that I may need to work on my own personal dance skills.

As someone who avoids heels with a vengeance, I was in awe as they ran, jumped, cart wheeled and pirouetted across the stage in footwear that looked more like some sort of post-apocalyptic weaponry than anything that I would dare let grace my feet.

These guys have mastered every form of dance you can think of – from voguing, which involves quick and fluid movements using your hands and arms, to the aptly named Death Drop. This move is, in short, fucking terrifying. If Birmingham Review let me use GIFs in my write ups there would be one following this sentence, so I encourage you to go forth and Google, and be both impressed and distressed for a while. (Ed’s note… as far as I can see, the trick here is to not break your spine – Death Drop Compilation)

Now, the iconic Lady Bunny. One of the original Club Kids from 80s New York, she soon had the room in stitches as she joked about her age, claiming she’d be dropping dead any minute. Her performance was less high octane than those before her, and relied solely on poop humor, but still brilliant. I would be lying however if I said that I did not spend most of my time staring in utter bemusement at her wig, as it made up at least half of her height and did not move a millimeter throughout her set.

During her performance of ‘I’m Not A Girl, Not Yet A Woman’ by Britney Spears, she whipped out a 10 inch silicone penis and started flinging it around the stage like something possessed. It was at this point that I excused myself side stage and began contemplating my career decisions.

Following from this was Katya, who describes herself as “your average run-of-the-mill Russian bisexual transvestite hooker”. Bianca Del Rio describes her as “the rightful queen of Drag Race All Stars,” and as she writhed her way along the stage in thigh high lace up gold boots, it was clear why. Not only was her new stand up routine to the point and side splittingly funny, but her impressions of fellow drag queen Roxxxy Andrews was both horrific and hilariously accurate.

Finally, Alyssa Edwards strutted out on stage and launched straight into an energetic dance number to a mashup of songs including ‘Me Too’ by Meghan Trainor and ‘What You Know ‘Bout Me?’ by Nicki Minaj.

Within minutes she was climbing along the crowd barrier while House of Decay served as her backing dancers on stage. Describing herself as “Drag royalty” and promising a show to remember, she delivered just that.

Overall, Klub Kids’ Queens of Comedy Extravaganza show was everything I was promised and more; smutty, witty, and worryingly offensive at times, each performer commanded the stage as their own. I can’t wait to see more of them in the future.

For more on Queens of Comedy Extravaganza/Klub Kids, visit www.klubkids.co.uk

For more from the O2 Academy, including venue details and online ticket sales, visit www.academymusicgroup.com/o2academybirmingham