Gomez – Bring It On 20th Anniversary Tour @ O2 Institute 28.08.18

Gomez, Bring It On 20th Anniversary Tour @ O2 Institute 28.08.18 / Phil Drury

 

 

 

Words by Sam Lambeth / Pics by Phil Drury

Cailin Russo is excited. “This is the best night of the tour,” she beams, her bleach blond locks flowing vivaciously in an imaginary Birmingham breeze. RUSSO and her band are an adorable bundle of energy, sweeping through the jet-fuelled punk of ‘House with A Pool’ and the ‘Something’-pilfering ballad ‘Lonely’. As opening acts go, RUSSO packs a sweet, but mighty, punch.

RUSSO – supporting Gomez, Bring It On 20th Anniversary Tour @ O2 Institute 28.08.18 / Phil Drury“You lot haven’t changed much,” grins Gomez’s premier blues howler Ben Ottewell to the Birmingham faithful. You can see from his smile that it’s meant in jest, and while the Southport experimentalists pretty much look the same – Ian Ball is still cherubic and childlike, Tom Gray is the mischievous mouthpiece, and Ottewell has the hirsute beard of a part-time wrestler – the audience has aged somewhat. But lest we forget it has been twenty years since their landmark debut record Bring It On surprised and stunned the British music landscape with its dusty Americana, hazy rockers and widescreen balladry.

Gomez, Bring It On 20th Anniversary Tour @ O2 Institute 28.08.18 / Phil Drury

When released, Bring It On beat a plethora of perfect albums to win the Mercury Music Prize. On reflection at the 02 Institute tonight, such an accolade proved entirely earned – opener ‘Get Miles’, where Ottewell is first able to unleash that mighty croak, is cloaked in atmospheric bleeps and surging riffs, while lead single ‘Whippin’ Piccadilly’ is a playful toe-tapper built around slide guitars and Gray’s box of keyboard tricks. The beauty of Bring It On is in its bold imagination and restless creativity – on a balmy Birmingham night, the five-piece take the crammed audience to the dim dive bars of Tennessee (a stunning, jaw-dropping ‘Tijuana Lady’), the open highways of California (the beefed-up, chiming colossus ‘Here Comes the Breeze’) and the bug-addled back porches of Texas (the country ballad ‘Free to Run’).

Gomez, Bring It On 20th Anniversary Tour @ O2 Institute 28.08.18 / Phil DruryThe band are good hosts, Gray permanently geeing the crowd up during the skewed pop of ’78 Stone Wobble’ and the compact crunch of ‘Get Myself Arrested’. As they breezily trade instruments, share harmonies and extend songs into fluid jams, the sheer talent of the five-piece comes into play, as does the cruel reminder that it is perhaps this talent, this restless creativity and fearlessness, that meant commercial appeal never quite beckoned.Gomez, Bring It On 20th Anniversary Tour @ O2 Institute 28.08.18 / Phil Drury

Once Bring It On comes to a close, there is still time for some old school Gomez classics. The menacing, snarling ‘Shot Shot’ and the straight-ahead shuffle of ‘Silence’ show that even when Gomez began losing their experimental roots for something more conventional, they were still making music that was far from ordinary. The beautiful, tear-jerking ‘We Haven’t Turned Around’ brings the 02 Institute to a stunned silence and the closing ‘Revolutionary Kind’ hammers home that a world without Gomez is one that is far too bland.

Whether or not there will be new music remains to be seen, but Gomez’s long-awaited return to the stage is a bold reminder of their unbridled talents. A new album and renewed recognition? Bring it on.

 

 

 

RUSSO – supporting Gomez, Bring It On 20th Anniversary Tour @ O2 Institute 28.08.18 / Phil Drury

RUSSO – supporting Gomez, Bring It On 20th Anniversary Tour @ O2 Institute 28.08.18 / Phil DruryRUSSO – supporting Gomez, Bring It On 20th Anniversary Tour @ O2 Institute 28.08.18 / Phil DruryRUSSO – supporting Gomez, Bring It On 20th Anniversary Tour @ O2 Institute 28.08.18 / Phil DruryRUSSO – supporting Gomez, Bring It On 20th Anniversary Tour @ O2 Institute 28.08.18 / Phil DruryRUSSO – supporting Gomez, Bring It On 20th Anniversary Tour @ O2 Institute 28.08.18 / Phil DruryRUSSO – supporting Gomez, Bring It On 20th Anniversary Tour @ O2 Institute 28.08.18 / Phil DruryRUSSO – supporting Gomez, Bring It On 20th Anniversary Tour @ O2 Institute 28.08.18 / Phil DruryRUSSO – supporting Gomez, Bring It On 20th Anniversary Tour @ O2 Institute 28.08.18 / Phil Drury

For more on Russo, visit www.russo.lnk.to/hwap

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Gomez, Bring It On 20th Anniversary Tour @ O2 Institute 28.08.18 / Phil Drury

Gomez, Bring It On 20th Anniversary Tour @ O2 Institute 28.08.18 / Phil Drury Gomez, Bring It On 20th Anniversary Tour @ O2 Institute 28.08.18 / Phil Drury Gomez, Bring It On 20th Anniversary Tour @ O2 Institute 28.08.18 / Phil Drury Gomez, Bring It On 20th Anniversary Tour @ O2 Institute 28.08.18 / Phil Drury Gomez, Bring It On 20th Anniversary Tour @ O2 Institute 28.08.18 / Phil Drury Gomez, Bring It On 20th Anniversary Tour @ O2 Institute 28.08.18 / Phil Drury Gomez, Bring It On 20th Anniversary Tour @ O2 Institute 28.08.18 / Phil Drury Gomez, Bring It On 20th Anniversary Tour @ O2 Institute 28.08.18 / Phil Drury Gomez, Bring It On 20th Anniversary Tour @ O2 Institute 28.08.18 / Phil Drury Gomez, Bring It On 20th Anniversary Tour @ O2 Institute 28.08.18 / Phil Drury Gomez, Bring It On 20th Anniversary Tour @ O2 Institute 28.08.18 / Phil Drury Gomez, Bring It On 20th Anniversary Tour @ O2 Institute 28.08.18 / Phil Drury

For more on Gomez, visit www.gomeztheband.com

For more from SJM Concerts/Gigs & Tours, including further event listings and online ticket sales, visit www.gigsandtours.com

For more on the O2 Institute, including venue details and further event listings, visit www.academymusicgroup.com/o2institutebirmingham

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NOT NORMAL – NOT OK is a campaign to encourage safety and respect within live music venues, and to combat the culture of sexual assault and aggression – from dance floor to dressing room.

To sign up to NOT NORMAL – NOT OK, click here. To know more about the NOT NORMAL – NOT OK sticker campaign, click here.

BPREVIEW: Gomez – Bring It On 20th Anniversary Tour @ O2 Institute 28.08.18

BPREVIEW: Gomez – Bring It On 20th Anniversary Tour @ O2 Institute 28.08.18

Words by Ed King

Gomez perform at the O2 Institute on Tuesday 28th August, coming to Birmingham as part of their Bring It On 20th Anniversary Tour with support from RUSSO as presented by SJM Concerts/Gigs & Tours.

Doors are open at the O2 Institute from 7pm with the minimum age of entry 14yrs, although under 16s will need adult accompaniment. Tickets are priced at £34.50 (including all fees) for both seating and standing – for direct event information, including venue details and links to online ticket sales, click here.

Gomez released their debut album, Bring It On, back in the tail end of a dance music Vs Britpop dominated 90’s – as Paul Oakenfold was battling Blur across the Matthew Bannister banished airwaves of Radio One, five lads in Leeds played their first gig together. And as the student throng staggered around Hyde Park, a well placed sign (and a catchy surname) gave the fledgling ensemble a name.

Pretty soon after that fateful night at the Hyde Park Social Club, Gomez had signed to Hut Records – a Virgin owned subsidiary that was set up to champion the burgeoning indie scene. And pretty soon after that Bring It On was out of the studio, on the shelves (oh yes, handheld purchases in them days), and burrowing its way into the shortlist for the Mercury Music Award. A self produced mix of growling vocals, stripped back indie swagger, words rhyming with Mexico, and short and curly grabbing melodies, Bring It On was a masterful debut – eventually beating some pretty tough competition for the aforementioned trophy.

And whilst Gomez’s sophomore album, Liquid Skin, was arguably as lauded – and the band’s following five albums showed confidence, exploration and range – it is perhaps this 12 track introduction that gets more hairs on certain necks still standing up on end. Mention to anyone over 30 you’ve “got some friends in my BMW…” and chances are they’ll know what to say.

It is also the reason Gomez are back on the road – playing nine dates across the UK and Republic of Ireland as part of their Bring It On 20th Anniversary Tour, which kicked off across North America in June.

And for those (lucky-life-still-ahead-of-them-bast*rds) who are too young to remember flicking through HMV racks on a Saturday afternoon…

’Get Myself Arrested’ – Gomez

Gomez come to the O2 Institute with their Bring It On 20th Anniversary Tour on Tuesday 28th August, with support from RUSSO – as presented by SJM Concerts/Gigs & Tours. For direct event information and links to online ticket sales, click here.

For more on Gomez, visit www.gomeztheband.com

For more on RUSSO, visit www.russo.lnk.to/hwap 

For more from SJM Concerts/Gigs & Tours, including further event listings and online ticket sales, visit www.gigsandtours.com

For more on the O2 Institute, including venue details and further event listings, visit www.academymusicgroup.com/o2institutebirmingham

________

NOT NORMAL – NOT OK is a campaign to encourage safety and respect within live music venues, and to combat the culture of sexual assault and aggression – from dance floor to dressing room.

To sign up to NOT NORMAL – NOT OK, click here. To know more about the NOT NORMAL – NOT OK sticker campaign, click here.