**Tickets for the originally scheduled Lada Gaga shows at the Genting Arena (12th Oct ’17) at Arena Birmingham (15th Oct ’17) can be transferred to the new dates. According to the venues’ websites, ‘if you cannot make the new date, refunds can be obtained at your point of purchase for a limited period’.**
Touring the UK following the release of her fifth studio album, Joanne, Lady Gaga is hitting the ground running in 2018. And why wouldn’t she? As one of the best-selling music artists of all time, Lady Gaga is set to make even more waves this year having signed a residency to perform at the MGM Park Theater in Las Vegas, as well as staring as the female lead in Bradley Cooper’s remake of A Star Is Born.
A pop icon whose dramatic flair and provocative, outspoken performances have made her one of the most influential stars on the planet at the moment, Lady Gaga‘s numerous accolades include three Brit awards, six Grammy awards and more Guinness World Records than you could shake a stick at.
Unlike many current mainstream artists, Lady Gaga’s performances are about more than just music. Her penchant for unconventional shows that defy social norms have made her one of the most respected female pop stars on the circuit. Lady Gaga has not only managed to elevate music performance to a new level – but she has merged it with fine art to create not just a show but a spectacle.
Even off stage, she has no boundaries; from her meat dress which dominated headlines in 2010, right through to her David Bowie inspired ensemble donned for the 2016 Grammy Awards, Lady Gaga is consistently reinventing herself and her music.
Lady Gaga has come a long way from the electropop tracks she released on her debut album, The Fame. Although tracks such as ‘Bad Romance’ and ‘Just Dance’ will always be seen as cult classics, the singer and songwriter has flirted with numerous genres over the years, including jazz, country and pop. And yet she still manages to incorporate her signature style into each track, distilling it down to a sound that is unmistakably Lady Gaga.
With her latest album receiving critical acclaim across the board, I can’t wait to see what Lady Gaga will bring to the stage as she kicks off the UK leg of her Joanne World Tour in Birmingham at the end of this month.
January 1st… no finer day to cross off the calendar. But as the world crawls out of bed with hangovers and resolutions, Birmingham’s events diary looks forward to a pretty vibrant January. It seems the ‘quiet month’ is not so dormant this year. Which is a good thing, right? I mean, who needs to stay in and save money? Food and heating are for quitters.
January also sees a strong line up of comedy in the city, kicking off with Tina T’urner Tea Lady Steamy Bingo at The Old Joint Stock on 5th Jan. Tracey Collins will be bringing her ‘camp alter ego’ back to The Old Joint Stock in March, so if you miss your numbers this time around you can always try again in spring.
For more film, mac hosts Playback from 7th to 24th Jan – a touring and ‘interactive exhibition’ of over 200 short films from ‘krumping and parkour dance shorts, to an animated tale of teenage love that unearths our desire to be as cool as the zines we read’. Held in the arts centre’s First Floor Gallery, with free admission, Playback carries a Tubbs and Edward local angle too, as ‘some of the films were originally made in and around Birmingham, where young people based in the Midlands were given the support and funding to create a short film.’
Then rounding off Birmingham’s cultural cache for the New Year, The Chefs’ Forum present their ‘Pay What You Can’ lunch at University College Birmingham on 15th Jan – a networking, trade and showcase event with four courses from some of the city’s top restaurants. Having launched its Midlands’ agenda at UCB back in February this… sorry, last year, The Chefs’ Forum is hosting their Jan ‘18 lunch to raise funds and awareness for its Educational Foundation which supports young chefs across the UK.
And with Louisa Ellis (The Wilderness), Mark Walsh (Opus Restaurant), Luke Tipping and Leo Kattou (Simpsons) and Olivier Briault (The Edgbaston Boutique Hotel) all chipping in a course, it should do just that. Although, the non-fixed donation approach is gratefully received in mid January.
Now if I can just find an energy provider with the same approach…
In memoriam of her paternal auntie and namesake, Lady Gaga’s latest song, album and tour appear as personal an affair as you can offer when delivering it to millions of strangers. A curious dichotomy, but one Birmingham will get to see on stage first as the Live Nation machine sets down in our city before anywhere else in the UK. Kudos.
And with tickets being transferred from the previous dates in October 2017, it’s fair to say there may be a bit of a bun fight to get in to these gigs. No doubt it’ll be worth a few scuffed elbows though, but even if ‘I’m never going to know you now, I’m gonna love you any how’. OX Joanne.
Tickets for the originally scheduled Lada Gaga shows at the Genting Arena (12th Oct ’17) at Arena Birmingham (15th Oct ’17) can be transferred to the new dates. According to the venues’ websites, ‘if you cannot make the new date, refunds can be obtained at your point of purchase for a limited period’.**
Playback @ mac 7th to 24th Jan
For more on any of the events listed here, click on the highlighted hyperlink.
Ed King is Editor-in-Chief of Review Publishing, which issues both the Birmingham Review and Birmingham Preview titles.
I doubt I’ve ever seen O2 Academy this busy. As we are filed into the venue, I’m truly surprised and slightly overwhelmed at the number of people who’ve come to see PVRIS tonight. In hindsight, this shouldn’t have been surprising – with frequent airplay on Radio 1, they’ve become a staple in the alternative rock scene and are gaining more and more fans by the minute.
First up was Tyne, a 19-year-old chill pop artist hailing from Cambridge. She set the bar exceedingly high for the evening – if you’re a fan of the likes of Lorde, Halsey and Gabrielle Aplin, then you’ll love her stuff. Tracks like ‘Crawl’ and ‘Girly’ crept under my skin and had me yearning to hear more, while her cover of Bring Me Horizon’s ‘Avalanche’ was executed to soul splitting perfection.
Tyne has the ability to combine meaningful lyrics with electronic rhythms without beating the life out of it like so many other artists do. She’s clearly destined for great things; I’d highly recommend catching her at a show and giving her a listen.
The next act couldn’t have been further from the last. COIN owned the stage for the next thirty minutes or so, belting out track after track of indie pop perfection. Their energy was intoxicating as singer, Chase Lawrence, cavorted across the stage, jumping on and off the drum kit to thrash out melodies on the synthesizers. The crowd adored it, dancing along to the summery beats of tracks like ‘Talk Too Much’. If the Arctic Monkeys and Circa Waves were to have a lovechild, then Nashville based COIN would be the result.
Then, finally… PVRIS. I’d heard mixed views of their live performances from friends and through work, and was really hoping for a show I could rave about for hours on end.
And to an extent, I could. Visually, the setup was stunning – strobe lights lit the stage while large screens projected flickering flames and embers as Lynn went to town on hits such as ‘St Patrick’ and ‘My House’. PVRIS’s setlist was varied enough to have a taste of their newer material from their latest release, All We Know Of Heaven, All We Need Of Hell, while still recalling back to tracks from White Noise.
However, Lynn’s gospel-like voice seemed to struggle at times against the heavy crescendo of guitar and drums from bandmates Alex and Brian. And although many members of the crowd were happy dancing at the front, I’d have enjoyed the show much more if I was sat up in the balcony of O2 Academy.
PVRIS more than made up for these few flaws, as I truly am nitpicking here. Their interaction with the crowd was heartfelt and genuine too, with Lynn exclaiming how, apart from at festivals, this was the largest crowd they had ever played to.
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 23rd 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 30th August 2017.
‘Heaven’ – PVRIS
PVRIS play the O2 Academy Birmingham on Thursday 23rd November, with support from Coin and Tyne. For direct gig info, including full venue details and online ticket sales, click here.
as well as staring as the female lead in Bradley Cooper’s remake of A Star Is Born.
have made her one of the most respected female pop stars on the circuit. Lady Gaga has not only managed to elevate music performance to a new level – but she has merged it with fine art to create not just a show but a spectacle.
. And yet she still manages to incorporate her signature style into each track, distilling it down to a sound that is unmistakably Lady Gaga.
For more on Lady Gaga, visit www.ladygaga.com
For more on any of the events listed here, click on the highlighted hyperlink. 
PVRIS