Sonic Gun Archives -

August 17, 2018

BPREVIEW: Sonic Gun Weekender @ The Castle & Falcon 17-19.08.18

Words by Ed King

Sonic Gun are hold a mammoth weekend live music event at The Castle & Falcon – running from Friday 17^th to Sunday 19^th August. And although we’re only giving you a few hours notice… it’s been one of ‘those’ weeks, we still think it’s something worth SHOUTING ABOUT.

Doors open at 6:30pm on Friday, with bands playing from 3:30pm on Saturday and 3pm on Sunday. Tickets are a very kind £15 for the whole kit and caboodle, with individual day tickets also available for £8. Minimum age of entry is 14 years, with anyone under 16 needing a card carrying adult to pop along with them.

For direct information check out the Sonic Gun Weekender Facebook Event Page here, or go to the Castle & Falcon website here.

So, who’s on..? As if getting to spend the weekend in a pub watching live music for £15 wasn’t a compelling enough reason to drag yourself off the sofa. The whole line up is featured on the poster above and looks like a bit of a plate spinning/band booking miracle, especially considering you’ve got Project Soundlounge on one side of this event and the August Bank Holiday weekend on the other.

But hyperbole aside, some of the cream from Birmingham’s live circuit crop are playing at the Sonic Gun Weekender – with each day top, tailed, and stuffed like a pimento olive with bands well worth the daily door charge alone.

On Friday, the somewhat now past ‘rising balloon’ Riscas are headlining a bill, with local pop-rockers The Assist and Spilt Milk Society confidently chasing the top spot. Also appearing on this local yokel Friday night line up are Social State and Echo Beach – the one’s from Shrewsbury, not Liverpool or Quebec. There will also be a DJ set from one side of the main B Town see-saw, Swim Deep.

Saturday sees those cool kids Ivory Wave (…slow editorial hand clap) bring some multifaceted early 90’s indie to the top of the bill. A real Birmingham success story in the making, in my mind Ivory Wave just need to be locked in a room with Andrew Weatherall and given a good old shake. But for now you can watch them share their space with Sugarthief, The Cosmics, Violet, and a smattering of others including Cave Girl – who we are a little keen to see live, loud, and in the flesh. And completing my lazy metaphor, Peace will be delivering a Saturday night DJ set.

Then rounding off a pretty full weekend by any normal human standards, that rockabilly rockstar Harry Jordan will be headlining the Sunday setlists. Joining Jordan in a somewhat eclectic goodbye will be a bite of rhythm and blues from The Surrenders and The Good Water, with the rougher raucous coming from Bad Girlfriend, Kick the Clown (best band name ever) and one of our favourites at Birmingham Review, P.E.T. Paper Buoys will be DJing for the final day, sans wordplay.

There will also be beer from Dig Brew, who (after some extensive research) serve the city’s best rocket fuel in a glass by far, and food from The House of Hen – who we haven’t researched but we’re educated guessing serve chicken. Or houses.

But check out the banner above or visit the Sonic Gun Weekender Facebook Event Page for more details. Or just buy a weekend ticket and throw yourself in eyes wide shut – at £15 for a three day line up you can’t go wrong really.

The Sonic Gun Weekender comes to The Castle & Falcon – running from Friday 17^th to Sunday 19^th August. For direct event info and links to online ticket sales, click here.

For more from Sonic Gun, including further event listings and online ticket sales, visit www.facebook.com/sonicgunconcerts

For more on The Castle & Falcon, including venue details and further event listings, visit www.castleandfalcon.com

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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.

July 19, 2018

BREVIEW: The Mothers Earth Experiment @ The Dark Horse 13.07.18

Words & pics by Ed King

I never played at the Whisky a Go Go. I was never in the house band; I was never Morrison. As much I wanted to be, mine was another time, another room. Another stage. Mine was breakbeat, rave, and those pills that had nothing to do with weight loss.

But The Mothers Earth Experiment, tonight, they get close. Close enough for me to start my review with wishes and references. Close enough to make me walk out the door and leave everything behind. Close enough, and what are we if nothing but shallow dreams. But fuck me they rock.

First up tonight though, at this particularly generous free entry Friday night gig at The Dark Horse, is The Taboo Club – the new face of Rob Lilley and Josh Rochelle-Bates, now joined by Jack Ingaglia (guitar), Ben Oerton (sax/keys) and Aiden Price (drums).

Their first live gig together, there are some rehearsal room cobwebs being dusted down tonight, and by the time ‘Bible John’ comes tumbling off stage, led by Lilley’s deep vocals, we are in a red room of sultry intent. Nestled somewhere between the low lit bourbon dive bars of Harlem and an opiate pit of six string destruction that would make the Velvet Underground blush, The Taboo Club are tapestry of genres and influences – driven by guitar, but with tinges of jazz, sax, and keys, giving the wall of sound a deep lustre.

Absurdly promising, even if I am a little biased. The Taboo Club play the next Birmingham Review showcase on Saturday September 29^th at The Victoria and we predict an interesting first time around the sun for this band – a tight ensemble with real depth. So stay alert, you listicles of music press future. More is sure to follow from The Taboo Club.

But back in the present, it’s time for Birmingham’s favourite space cadets to come in for landing. I’ve seen The Mothers Earth Experiment before, and they’re good. They’re tight. Polished psych rock. Musicians who know how to play, and who you get the feeling (I can only observe) really enjoy their time on stage together. At least I love watching their keyboard player.

But there’s something in their set tonight, and the front row, and the bass, and the shoulders that sway in that Nico kinda way. There’s something more. I’m engaged in a different way than before; perhaps it’s the blues rock, for whatever you or I make of that term. But it’s good, and a little ferocious. Two words I’m confident we all understand.

Frontman Mark Roberts pulls his face and eyes out over the crowd, as the band open with ‘Cool Down Mama’ and work backwards through their debut album. The combined exuberance of this six piece, who are probably classically trained (I have no idea but it feels like they could, or should, be) with high ideas and the balls to bring them to life, is unassailable.

I’m a little drunk and lazy as I write this (I recently adopted the stance of penning each review as soon as I get back. You know, whilst it’s ‘still fresh’. The photos on the other hand…) but I have an overwhelming urge to run across the bonnets of parked cars, or laugh. Or actually enjoy myself in public. There’s a deeper edge to The Mothers Earth Experiment tonight that I’m not erudite (sober) enough right now to adequately describe, but it keeps me in the crowd with a half jealous fix on stage. The man next to me agrees. We stop talking and watch. And dance, when the moments of tight self-control allow us.

Donald Trump would not agree. His name is mentioned more than a few times tonight, and not with compassion or without candour. But let’s face it, as we laugh at doom and the absurdity of such a close nuclear winter, the man is indeed “a cunt”. But with balloons and battle cries constantly thrown off stage we are unified at The Dark Horse tonight, on the very day that such monstrosity prepares themselves for dinner with the divine right of kings. And in a further act of general good will, The Mothers Earth Experiment have been passing out NOT NORMAL – NO OK stickers until in the room is adorned with specs of yellow and black. A wonderful sight to see; bless everyone one stage and off. Click here for more on the NOT NORMAL – NO OK campaign.

But we’re nearing the end, my only friend, and the The Mothers Earth Experiment say sayonara with a new track before heading back to the cosmos – ‘Bliss’, which builds, folds, unfolds, and explodes off stage like a grenade wrapped in a cloud. Bliss… For Spaceman 3 playing ‘Revolution’ on a particularly angry day perhaps; the shift from sweet jangles to sonic assault is almost rude… and so much fun. A startling denouement. No encore needed. Although The Mothers Earth Experiment had one planned, as the track listing I stole (it’s usually a journalist) told me was ‘Fortress’.

The rest of my night ends with random friends, strange new faces, stories of pet executions (lack of funds… ouch, you’ve got to love the fluctuating moral compass) and that unpleasant edge in Moseley I’m old enough to reference. Fuck you, I remember when this was all fields…

The Mother’s Earth Experiment at The Dark House, we give you four out of five stars, No one gets five. And I’m sure the letter you send home about this will be the talk of your family Christmas mailout. But I loved it; a great gig. And one that didn’t cost us a bean too.

So to the people of planet Earth, go out and purchase everything on The Mothers Earth Experiment merch stand and keep the world replete with good music. Also, keep Saturday September 29th free for The Taboo Club Showcase Gig with Birmingham Review at The Victoria. That is the judgement of music journalism. It has spoken. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. And considering tonight was a free entry gig, with copies of The Mothers Earth Experiment’s eponymous album being given away, I’d say it’s the very least we can do.

For more on The Mothers Earth Experiment, visit www.themothersearthexperiment.wordpress.com

For more on The Taboo Club, visit www.facebook.com/TheTabooClubUK

The Taboo Club Showcase Gig with Birmingham Review will be held at The Victoria on Saturday 29^th September. To find out more, and to be on the waiting list for when tickets are released, visit the Facebook Event Page by clicking here.

For more from Sonic Gun, including further event listings and online ticket sales, visit www.facebook.com/sonicgunconcerts

For more on The Dark Horse, including venue details and further event listings, visit www.darkhorsemoseley.co.uk

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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.

July 12, 2018July 12, 2018

BPREVIEW: The Mothers Earth Experiment @ The Dark Horse 13.07.18

Words by Ed King

On Friday 13^th July, The Mothers Earth Experiment play a free entry gig at The Dark Horse in Moseley – with support from The Taboo Club.

Doors open upstairs at ‘the horse’ from 8pm, with tickets costing NOTHING AT ALL YOU LUCKY MUSIC LOVING BAST*RDS – as presented by Sonic Gun. For direct information, visit the Facebook Event Page by clicking here.

They say Friday 13^th is an auspicious day (“they talk a lot, don’t they…”) and The Mothers Earth Experiment are channelling whatever from wherever to feed the collective unconscious with some musical manna this weekend.

Always worth a stop, look and listen, The Mothers Earth Experiment have been pumping out their jazz, funk, and lava lamp tinged psych rock for a handful of years now. One of the more musically proficient bands we’ve come across on Brum’s live circuit, The Mothers Earth Experiment are a tight and intelligent six piece delivering ‘detailed sonic tapestries of dense psychedelic atmospheres and emotive melodies’ with a social-political message never too far behind. Committed to the cause of music. Plus, they’re lovely people. And the world needs lovely people.

But this weekend, The Mothers Earth Experiment are being extra good to us all. First up, they’re throwing a free gig. So no bank balances will suffer if you want to go out and get your psych rock wiggle on this weekend. Bless you gents.

Second up, The Mothers Earth Experiment are gifting ten free copies of their debut album as part of the promo for the gig – leaving a round of drinks and a lift home as the only acts of generosity left to give. To win a copy, all you’ve got to do is share their Facebook post about it – click here – and the winners will be announced via the band’s social media, with CDs ready for collection at The Dark Horse.

Sounds simple enough. But to celebrate the arrival of POTUS to the UK, The Mothers Earth Experience have tailored their competition to honour the illustrious floppy wig wearing war mongering celebrity obsessed egotistical megalomaniac. In the band’s own words:

‘And if you want a really big chance of winning something, remember I personally will buy something special for the person with the best plaque, t-shirt, sign etc that tells Donald Trump where to fucking go.’

The Mothers Earth Experiment were also quick to get behind the NOT NORMAL – NOT OK campaign, which got launched this week 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.’ In an act of on and off stage solidarity, the band will be handing out NOT NORMAL – NOT OK stickers at their gig on Friday 13^th July, asking people to wear one whilst at the venue and ‘show the perpetrators of sexual assault, violence, and misconduct that their actions will not be tolerated.’

“We at The Mothers Earth Experiment have been angered and horrified to hear of stories of sexual assault in the local scene. We’re getting behind the NOT NORMAL – NOT OK campaign to try and bring light to these horrific abuses of power – from danceflooor to dressing room. On Friday 13th July our gig coincides with Donald Trump arriving in the UK; a physical reminder that the very top echelons of society can still get away with “grabbing them by the pussy”.

We want to end this and although we may not be able to get Trump yet, we can sure as hell sort out our scene with enough support. So to all the people who have ever been taken advantage of, to all the people who have seen the other side of their friends, to all those who’ve been abused by someone with power over them, we can and will make a difference.”

Also appearing on the bill are The Taboo Club, the recently formed phoenix from the flames of the band Semantics – playing their first gig in their fresh new form. The Taboo Club has Joshua Rochelle-Bates and Rob Lilley at the helm, from the aforementioned, but also boasts an eclectic line up of solid sounds and musicians from across the musical spectrum – expect guitar, bass, sax, keys, and soaring walls of sonic bliss from a deluge of influences. But here a quick hello from the band themselves:

“The Taboo Club have a lot of respect for The Mothers Earth Experiment, having known them on the local circuit for some time now, and we couldn’t think of anyone more fitting to support for our first gig. It’s really exciting to be playing live after having worked so hard as a new band.

We can’t wait for people to hear The Taboo Club too. It’s an ensemble of expressive and tight musicians playing amalgamations of different genres – songs that command attention but welcome intimacy. The sound is informed and shaped by our individual contributions, but with a jazz chemistry and other familiar yet strange things.”

It’s pretty stuff awesome too. Birmingham Review was privy to some rehearsals and we liked it so much we’ve booked The Taboo Club to play our next showcase gig – held at The Victoria on Saturday 29th September.

Tickets for The Taboo Club Showcase Gig with Birmingham Review are not on sale yet, but we’ve had a fair few people ask for reserves already (honestly, just shy of a quarter of the room so far) so jump over to the Facebook Event Page and stick your hand in the air.

Meanwhile, back in a warm and fuzzy corner of space somewhere near the third rock from the sun…

‘Cool Down Mama’ – The Mothers Earth Experiment

The Mothers Earth Experiment play a free gig at The Dark Horse on Friday 13^th July, with support from The Taboo Club – as presented by Sonic Gun. For direct gig information, visit the Facebook Event Page by clicking here.

For more on The Mothers Earth Experiment, visit www.themothersearthexperiment.wordpress.com

For more on The Taboo Club, visit www.facebook.com/TheTabooClubUK

For more from Sonic Gun, including further event listings and online ticket sales, visit www.facebook.com/sonicgunconcerts

For more on The Dark Horse, including venue details and further event listings, visit www.darkhorsemoseley.co.uk

________

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 and join the NOT NORMAL – NOT OK campaign, click here. To know more about the NOT NORMAL – NOT OK sticker campaign, click here.