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November 11, 2016

THE GALLERY: Submotion Orchestra @ O2 Institute 09.11.16

Words & Pics by Michelle Martin (Visual Voice Media)

The sound system lowers. A man appeared awkwardly centre stage. Speaking ends.

“The show has been cancelled to due a member of the band taken ill backstage”.

You could hear a pin drop.

At other cancelled shows, audience members could boo and jeer at the announcement – but surprisingly the crowd was sympathetic and shouted support for the person now waiting for an ambulance.*

It was a shame to miss The Cinematic Orchestra.

But I shot the supporting act, Submotion Orchestra; I didn’t research anything about the Leeds based ensemble, typically I don’t, but safe to say I was surprised by the music they played.

Ruby Wood’s outstanding vocals shone throughout their set. Bobby Beddoe commanded the stage with his chosen weapons, a microphone and trumpet. The sounds he produced are still stuck in my head, and this is over 24 hours later. Cheesy as it sounds but there is no other way of describing it – tingles all over my body. Simply beautiful. The biggest crowd reactions of the evening were in response to this maestro doing dominating the solos.

The only downside to Submotion Orchestra’s set was the god awful lighting – please get this sorted. And what’s with the consistent use of red lights? I’d best cease the potential rant on light rigs at venues.

Anyway, here is a quick gallery from Submotion Orchestra’s performance.

Here is THE GALLERY from Submotion Orchestra’s performance.

Submotion Orchestra @ O2 Institute 09.11.16

*A message from Leftfoot – promoters

First off a huge thank you to everyone who attended last night’s show and a huge amount of respect for the patience and understanding shown.

Unfortunately moments before the band were due on stage, one of the members became very unwell which resulted in the need for urgent medical attention. Given the gravity of the situation, it was impossible for the show to continue. We’re in the process of discussing a rescheduled date, but have nothing confirmed just yet. All tickets will remain valid for a rescheduled date, however refunds will be available at point of purchase for all those that wish to.

Apologies from us and from The Cinematic Orchestra, everyone was genuinely devastated about this unfortunate turn of events and we wish Dom a speedy recovery.

For any further enquiries, please email tom@leftfootvenues.co.uk

-ENDS-

For more on Submotion Orchestra, visit www.submotion.co.uk

For more on The Cinematic Orchestra, visit www.cinematicorchestra.com

For more from the O2 Institute, visit www.academymusicgroup.com/o2institutebirmingham

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For more from Leftfoot, visit www.leftfootevents.co.uk

For more form Ninja Tunes, visit www.ninjatune.net

November 5, 2016November 9, 2016

BPREVIEW: The Cinematic Orchestra @ O2 Institute 09.11

Words by Ed King / Pic by B+ (Mochilla)

On Wednesday 9^th November, The Cinematic Orchestra perform a full live set at the O2 Institute with support from Submotion Orchestra – as presented by Leftfoot & Ninja Tune.

Doors open at 7pm with tickets priced at £25+booking fee. For direct gig info, including online tickets sales, click here.

The words ‘eagerly awaited’ are thrown around. Like ‘love’ on Valentine’s Day, we mean it for the second the sentence leaves our lips, and then… maybe… what was your sister’s name again..?

But expect to hear these words. In 2017 The Cinematic Orchestra will be releasing another album, their first studio recorded release since Ma Fleur in 2007, and from the jaunty hats of Hoxton to the Grime & Crime of Salford an audible anticipation grows. Probably justified this time too, with the previous proffering from Messers Swinscoe & Co being a decade ago. And you’re fooling no one with your ‘Live at…’ or mix compilations; we want blood.

So what to expect? The Ninja Tune press release tells us to expect ‘some of the most poised, ravishing music of this band’s stellar career’. Plus there are some more sexy ass collaborations, this time from Beck, Sufjan Stevens, Solange, James Blake and Moses Sumney – the latter being the guest vocalist on the album’s teaser single release, ‘To Believe’.

Outside of that, The Cinematic Orchestra’s next album is all a little cloak and dagger – with only a live European tour between us and the chasm of cultural ignorance. At the time of writing, we don’t know what it’s called or when it’s arriving (cue jokes about teenage pregnancy) and the only chance we’ll have to get anything more out of them is half cut at one of the concerts (cue jokes about teenage pregnancy).

But luckily for Birmingham, The Cinematic Orchestra are popping into the O2 Institute on their way from Nottingham to London – playing one of only 8 UK dates here on Wednesday 9^th November. So screw you Wolverhampton Civic Hall. And go and drink a pint at the Hare & Hounds, it’s the very least we can do.

In the meantime, check out the aforementioned teaser single – click on the link below. You can download this from The Cinematic Orchestra’s website too.

‘To Believe’ featuring Moses Sumney – The Cinematic Orchestra

The Cinematic Orchestra play at the O2 Institute on Wednesday 9^th November – with support from Submotion Orchestra. For direct gig info & online ticket sales, click here.

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For more on The Cinematic Orchestra, visit www.cinematicorchestra.com

For more on Submotion Orchestra, visit www.submotion.co.uk

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For more from the O2 Institute, visit www.academymusicgroup.com/o2institutebirmingham

For more from Leftfoot, visit www.leftfootevents.co.uk

For more form Ninja Tune, visit www.ninjatune.net

October 15, 2016October 15, 2016

BREVIEW: Explosions in the Sky @ O2 Institute 10.10.16

Words by Matthew Osborne / Pics by Reuben Penny

I’d almost forgotten about Explosions in the Sky. Back at the turn of the century, post-rock was a formidable genre with bands like Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Mogwai and Sigur Rós making music that seemed to wordlessly say something significant about the human condition through cinematic and sometimes apocalyptic music.

With their 2003 release, The World Is Not a Cold Dead Place, Explosions in the Sky (EITS) made something quite beautiful which celebrated what it was to be alive on this planet, full of epic songs with life-affirming titles such as ‘First Breath After a Coma’. Since 2011’s Take Care, Take Care, however, which fell into the category of more-of-the-same, along with the works of many of their contemporaries, EITS fell off my radar.

Coming across them again on a cold Monday night in Birmingham, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Their current record, The Wilderness, whilst adding some electronica to their palette, had underwhelmed me upon first listen.

Arriving at the O2 Institute midway through the opening act, Entrance, we buy beers and immediately look for somewhere to get away from this drab, one-man-and-his-guitar act who is sucking the life out of the room with every reverb heavy chord.

After Entrance finally makes his exit, Explosions in the Sky take to the stage, say a few brief words to the packed room, and then launch into over an hour of uninterrupted music.

The light show is mesmerising, and the first ethereal notes of the title track to the new record gently leak out from the stage, entrancing the assembled throng. The photographers in the pit scurry around taking shots by poking their heads through what looks like shards of heavenly light, trying to get a shot through a dimensional portal.

Then, without warning, the band erupt into a wall of noise, distorted and beautiful, and the five members thrash about the stage, lost in their own music. On the left are Mark Smith and Michael James, head-banging to every beat, and on the right are Munaf Rayani and Carlos Torres (EITS’s fifth member whilst touring) who are writhing, like charmed snakes, to the gentle melodies beneath the powerful drumming of Chris Hrasky.

EITS work their way through a set comprised of old and new material, the oldies getting the bigger round of applause and the occasional clap-along from the audience as the tension builds to the inevitable climaxes dotted throughout each piece. At one point the wedding bands of three of the members glint and catch my eye at the same time, and I contemplate a supposition that these guys are good wholesome folk who understand love in its purest sense. That certainly comes through in their music.

I am also willing to gamble that they are excellent lovers, if their music is anything to go by. They are in no hurry to get to the climax, happy to be suspended in a moment for as long as it needs. The big pay-offs always come, but are sometimes sudden and surprising, especially to newcomers – like my companion this evening who watches enthralled for the whole performance, her body rocking with the band’s every beat.

Sadly, all good things come to an end. Fortunately this is nothing short of spectacular with EITS resurrecting two classics from their much-loved third album, The World is Not a Cold Dead Place. Cheers go up as a familiar riff breaks through the ambient dramatics of ‘The Only Moment We Were Alone’, and for ten minutes we are caught suspended in something magical – a wordless story which slowly unravels, becoming an overwhelming blanket of sound, building and building until it can’t reach any higher and ending in a sudden silence as the lights go down.

Tonight is a truly spectacular piece of musical theatre. EITS show that the apparently tired sounds of the post rock genre can still ring pure and true when played at the right volumes, with the mastery of a talented band of musicians who understand the dynamics of their work.

As we are kicked out of the O2 Institute, into the sharp chill of Monday night in Digbeth, amidst the drunks and the litter, it is hard not to find some sort of beauty inherent in every scene. You just need to approach it with the right pair of eyes, and the right set of ears. Without speaking a word tonight, Explosions in the Sky showed their Birmingham audience that troubles can be overcome and that there is a beauty to life, love and living, that we can forever embrace

For more on Explosions in the Sky, visit www.explosionsinthesky.com

For more from the O2 Institute (Birmingham), visit www.academymusicgroup.com/o2institutebirmingham

For more from DHP, visit www.dhpfamily.com

October 9, 2016October 9, 2016

BPREVIEW: Explosions in the Sky @ O2 Institute 10.10.16

Words by Ed King

On Monday 10^th October, Explosions in the Sky will be performing at the O2 Institute (Birmingham) – coming to the city as part of their pan-Atlantic Wilderness Tour. Support comes from the Guy Blakeslee born, Entrance.

Presented in the UK by DHP, doors will open for the Explosions in the Sky gig at 7pm. Tickets are priced at £25.25 +booking fee – for direct gig info, including online tickets sales, click here.

Born in the post rock Texan shadows of 1999, Explosions in the Sky are a guitar led, four piece, mini orchestra – producing layered, guitar led instrumentals (mainly) that hark back to the ambient rock progression of Spritualized or Mogwai.

Releasing their first LP in 2000, the seven track How Strange, Innocence, the band signed to Baltimore born/Brooklyn based Temporary Residence Ltd to release their sophomore album – Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Die, Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Live Forever (2001).

Under the Bella Union umbrella in the UK since their third album, The Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place (2003), Explosions in the Sky have been hop-scotching the Atlantic in 2016 – touring The Wilderness, their 7^th studio album (if you include the limited physical release/free download of The Rescue in 2005) following its release in April this year.

Five years after the six track Take Care, Take Care, Take Care saw the light of day, the Explosions in the Sky’s latest LP endevour is an arguably more ‘radio friendly’ affair – stretching across 9 tracks and leaning to the lower end of the one-to-ten minute scale. Known for their uncompromising approach and self-described ‘cathartic mini symphonies’ this is a side step for the Texan rock band, one which could signal a slight change in the prevailing wind or could just be a coincidence. Perhaps a mute point (until we see guest vocals from Fergie) but worth noting none the less.

After their gig at the O2 Institute in Birmingham, Explosions in the Sky will be playing two more UK dates in Gateshead and London respectively. Then it’s over to our (hopefully still) European friends for gigs across October – starting out with three dates in Greece (Oct 14^th – 16^th) and ending their EU adventure in Düsseldorf, Germany (Oct 27^th).

And for a tiny taste of what you might find on any of these stages, check out Explosions in the Sky performing their tour/album’s title track at the 9:30 Club in Washington D.C. – courtesy of NPR Music.

‘Wilderness’ – Explosions in the Sky

Explosions in the Sky come to the O2 Institute (Birmingham) on Monday 10^th October, as part of the worldwide Wilderness Tour – supported by Entrance. For direct gig info, including online tickets sales, click here.

For more on Explosions in the Sky, visit www.explosionsinthesky.com

For more from the O2 Institute (Birmingham), visit www.academymusicgroup.com/o2institutebirmingham

For more from DHP, visit www.dhpfamily.com

February 25, 2016

BREVIEW: Fat White Family @ O2 Institute 20.02.16

Words by Helen Knott / Pics by Ed King

If you believe the band’s PR machine, Fat White Family are the “shot in the arm that independent rock has been ailing after.”

They’ve certainly gained plenty of notoriety since emerging from a South London squat back in 2012, but will they live up to their own hype at the O2 Institute, on the first night of an eleven date UK tour?

They do a pretty good job, for the first half an hour at least. An onslaught of songs in quick succession at the start of the set builds an early sense of momentum. Lead singer, Lias Saoudi, prowls around, topless, predatory, his hand occasionally creeping down his trousers. He’s a great front man, obnoxious to the point of almost being disgusting; commanding total attention from the excitable audience.

A particular crowd favourite is ‘Satisfied’, the second track of the band’s most recent album, Songs for Our Mothers. Typical of the album as a whole, ‘Satisfied’ has somewhat crass lyrics, at one point comparing a blowjob to life in a concentration camp. The words are lost live though, and you’re left with a sleazy foot stomper with a killer chorus. It’s probably for the best.

Mid-set the pace slows a little and the momentum peters out; the best thing about lumbering, dull ‘Goodbye Goebbels’ is its name, whilst ‘Wild American Prairie’ is a straightforward, sluggish blues dirge.

This points my main problem with Fat White Family – their lyrics are interesting, their politics are interesting, their wild antics are interesting, but the music itself isn’t really all that interesting. They write some good riffs and some catchy songs but it can often descend into arguable Fall and Clash rip offs.

There are exceptions. Songs like ‘Whitest Boy on the Beach’, the opening track from their latest album, suggest that Fat White Family could develop into a more musically interesting proposition. The guitar line grooves along, with the breathy vocals gradually submerged by melodic synths before re-emerging with greater force; it’s almost like disco music.

So, Fat White Family – a shot in the arm for independent music? Yes, probably, they really are a spectacle of a live band. But are they independent music’s new lifeblood? That remains to be seen.

For more on Fat White Family, visit https://fatwhitefamily.bandcamp.com

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For more from the O2 Institute, visit http://o2institutebirmingham.co.uk/

For more events from SJM Concerts, visit http://www.gigsandtours.com/