Words by Damien Russell
Presented by Birmingham Promoters, Ideal Club are headlining the Actress & Bishop on the 4th of August – supported by Mallavora, The Hole in the Head Gang, and The Kingcrawlers.
The night is scheduled to start at 19:30 and tickets are priced at £6.00, excluding bookings fees etc. For direct gig info, including online ticket sales, click here.
This is an evening set to hammer your ears. In a good way. And believe me, trying to find a way to describe a good way to have your ears hammered is no easy feat.
The first act are The Kingcrawlers, a solid rock band reminding me of Thin Lizzy and Saxon era classic rock/NWOBHM, followed by The Hole in the Head Gang (one of the only bands I’ve seen in a long time using Myspace) who will be bringing a slightly psychedelic edge to things. The penultimate set will be by Mallavora who are described by Birmingham Promoters as ‘a home-made mix of heavy music, light vocals and accessible lyrics’ which to me sums up their mix of ‘Arctic Monkey’ vocals, Muse guitar and heavy hitting rhythm section very well.
Our headliners for the evening are, of course, Ideal Club and if you haven’t seen them before you might be forgiven for wondering what they’re all about. The name and the striking, brightly coloured pop-art style logos put me in mind of a dance artist or maybe an electronica band. Something to go raving to. And to be fair, not having a website or a list of influences on their Facebook page doesn’t particularly help.
Have no fear lovers of guitar music and hard rock, Ideal Club are not what they may first appear.
If you were to look at a roster containing The Black Keys, The Vines and Royal Blood, Ideal Club would fit in there very well. Putting a bit of funk into punk and wrapping it in an anthemic uplifting package seems to be their mission and I think they do it pretty damn well.
Originally forming in 2015 Ideal Club have, until recently, been a four-piece. This year for reasons as yet unknown, they are performing as a three-piece comprising; Dan Beckett on vocals and guitar, Lee Cartmell on bass and David James on drums. The hunt for a lead/second guitarist goes on but happily seems to have had no impact on their busy schedule other than to offer a ‘limited edition’ run of reduced line-up performances for fans to talk about.
Ideal Club started strong in 2015, announcing they would have their first show only three months after their appearance online. And that was at the O2 Institute so hardly an unknown venue. Sadly, the headline band were unwell and the show never happened but, even so, it then took until the 20th of May 2016 before they got their first headline show at The Flapper and Firkin.
Equally, they were first in the studio in October 2015 and announcing their first song release, ‘Are You Listening?’, on the 9th but it has taken until the 24th of February this year for their first official EP to be released. Also called Are You Listening? and containing the song of the same title (presumably re-recorded).
I think it would be fair to say that while Ideal Club do all the right things, they don’t move very fast. That said, I’m told (again and again) that patience is a virtue and while it’s not one I’ve ever had, good things may come to those who wait. We’ve been waiting for Ideal Club to get to this point; it could well be the Actress & Bishop crowd are in for a treat on Friday 4th August.
‘Breathe’ – Ideal Club
Ideal Club play at the Actress & Bishop on Friday 4th August, with support from Mallavora, The Hole in the Head Gang, and The Kingcrawlers – as presented by Birmingham Promoters. For direct gig info, including online ticket sales, click here.
For more on Ideal Club, visit www.soundcloud.com/idealclub
For more on Mallavora, visit www.soundcloud.com/mallavoraofficial
For more on The Hole in The Head Gang, visit www.myspace.com/theholeintheheadgang
For more on The Kingcrawlers, visit www.soundcloud.com/the-kingcrawlers
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For more from the Actress & Bishop, visit www.facebook.com/Actressandbishop
For more from the Birmingham Promoters, including full event listings and online ticket sales, visit www.birminghampromoters.com
