The Gallery Archives -

January 31, 2018January 31, 2018

THE GALLERY: Miss May I @ Mama Roux’s 24.01.18

As I drive onto Lower Trinity Street to park my car I see a red, double-decker tour bus with a trailer right outside Mama Roux’s. At first I thought a band due to play in the main room of the O2 Institute had parked outside the wrong venue; it’s normally vans and cars I see parked on this street, not tour buses fit for major rock stars.

But of course, it makes sense. Tonight’s headline act, Miss May I, are traveling across the UK and Europe on their We Are Stronger Than Before tour with American bands, Fit For A King and Currents, along with Void of Vision from Australia. It’s only right such a metalcore smorgasbord should be in a big, comfortable tour bus together.

I arrive just in time to see Currents, who hail from Connecticut, open the night. This is their first international tour, which also means their first time in Birmingham. Usually, not many people arrive at a gig early enough to watch the opening acts but Currents really give it their all on the stage in front of the first few that watch them. First impressions count after all.

I shoot the first three songs of Currents’ set, then take advantage of a rare opportunity to sit in a booth upstairs at Mama Roux’s, reviewing the images I’ve taken.

As the next band set up the stage, I scan the room from the balcony, looking for interesting perspectives to shoot from. The room isn’t filling up with too many more people, so it appears this night won’t be the busiest – great for me making my way to and from the front of the stage, perhaps not so great for those on it.

I head to the floor to shoot Void of Vision, another band performing for the first time in Birmingham, although going by their solid set and engagement with the crowd you wouldn’t believe that. Donning a baseball cap and oversized t-shirt, frontman Jack Bergin paces the stage, encouraging the audience to start circle pits and wave their arms in the air.

From seeing a few people wearing their t-shirts, and a few comments I overhear, I sense that the main support act, Fit for a King, are the band a lot of people are really looking forward to. Their presence on stage has more people heading towards the front, giving me relatively little space to shoot from, but keeping us all in a nice and understanding crowd.

It’s only fair that I extend that courtesy too, by keeping my stance as low as possible, and by keeping my time at the front of the stage short so the ticket paying public can make use of the space. After all, fans have shelled out over £12 a ticket to experience a great night of metalcore, not the back of a photographer’s head. I spend the rest of Fit for a King’s set on the fringes of the room, enjoying watching the majority of people sing along to their songs word for word. I just know that Fit for a King are a band that really means something to these fans.

The atmosphere starts to feel a bit deflated by the time Ohio’s Miss May I grace the stage. It could be that people are slightly drained from the excitement of Fit for a King, but Miss May I don’t quite get the reception that I would have expected for a headline act.

They open their set with a few singles from their latest album, Shadows Inside, but it isn’t until they play more familiar numbers like ‘Hey Mister’ that the crowd really starts to give the band their full energy. Perhaps four full hours of metalcore can get a little too much in the end, but overall I’m sure it was an enjoyable night for the fans.

Miss May I @ Mama Roux’s 24.01.18 / Aatish Ramchurn – Birmingham Review

For more on Miss May I, visit www.missmayimusic.com

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Fit for a King – supporting Miss May I @ Mama Roux’s 24.01.18 / Aatish Ramchurn – Birmingham Review

For more on Fit for a King, visit www.fitforakingband.com

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Void of Vision – supporting Miss May I @ Mama Roux’s 24.01.18 / Aatish Ramchurn – Birmingham Review

For more on Void of Vision, visit www.voidofvision.com

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Currents – supporting Miss May I @ Mama Roux’s 24.01.18 / Aatish Ramchurn – Birmingham Review

For more on Currents, visit www.currentsofficial.com

For more on Mama Roux’s, including full event listings and online ticket sales, visit www.facebook.com/mamarouxs

For more on Surprise You’re Dead! Music, visit www.surpriseyouredeadmusic.co.uk

January 23, 2018

BPREVIEW: Miss May I @ Mama Roux’s 24.01.18

Words by Aatish Ramchurn

On Wednesday 24th January, Miss May I arrive at Mama Roux’s in Birmingham as part of their We Are Stronger Than Before UK tour.

The concert is presented by Surprise You’re Dead! Music with tickets priced at £12 (adv) plus booking fee. Doors open at Mama Roux’s from 7pm. For direct gig info, including venue details and online ticket sales, click here.

Support acts for Miss May I in Birmingham, and the rest of the UK tour, include Texan metalcore band Fit for a King, Void of Vision from Australia, and Currents from Connecticut, USA.

Having previously supported Bullet for My Valentine and Killswitch Engage in 2013 and 2014, respectively, at the O2 Academy in Birmingham, Miss May I embark on their first headline tour of the UK in six years.

Miss May I originally formed in 2007 in Troy, Ohio. Almost a year after their formation, they signed to punk and metal label, Rise Records, and released their debut album Apologies for the Weak. The band would go on to release four more albums under Rise Records until they released their sixth and latest album, Shadows Inside, through SharpTone Records in 2017.

Throughout their 10 year career, Miss May I have managed to retain their original line up of Levi Benton on vocals, BJ Stead on lead guitarist, rhythm guitarist Justin Aufdemkampe, drummer Jerod Boyd, and Ryan Neff on bass. Although Neff briefly left Miss May I between 2007 – 2009, when he joined Cincinnati rockers Rose Funeral, and was replaced by Josh Gillespie during his absence.

As their upcoming UK tour is titled from the opening lyrics of Miss May I’s single ‘Lost In The Grey’, from their latest Shadows Inside album, it would be safe to assume that their setlist will heavily feature a lot of new tracks, as well as a few favourites from previous albums.

But whatever the main setlist, with a packed support lineup consisting of Fit for a King, Void of Vision, and Currents, metalcore fans of Birmingham should have enough to keep them occupied when Miss May I headline at Mama Roux’s on Wednesday 24th January.

‘Shadows Inside’ – Miss May I

For more on Miss May I, visit www.missmayimusic.com

For more on Fit for a King, visit www.fitforakingband.com

For more on Void of Vision, visit www.voidofvision.com

For more on Currents, visit www.currentsofficial.com

For more on Mama Roux’s, including full event listings and online ticket sales, visit www.facebook.com/mamarouxs

For more on Surprise You’re Dead! Music, visit www.surpriseyouredeadmusic.co.uk

November 25, 2016

THE GALLERY: Laura Mvula @ O2 Institute 19.11.16

Words by Ed King / Pics by Paul Reynolds

On Saturday 19^th November, Laura Mvula came to the O2 Institute – with support from Oliver St Louis.

Laura Mvula was back in Birmingham at the midway point of her UK Autumn tour, a couple of months (and a Christmas) before she sets off for North America and Australia, with one Cape Town gig in between. For Laura Mvula’s full tour schedule, click here.

But we get the homecoming and that’s what it’s all about. One of the finer artists to come from Birmingham in recent years, Laura Mvula is an intelligent tapestry of homegrown success – with traditional roots in a gospel chorus and burgeoning branches that cover jazz, funk, soul and all things angelic; what, a, vocalist. Plus she’s written songs about Kings Heath, and I can only think of one other human on this blue ball that’s found a muse in B14.

Laura Mvula shot to fame after her debut album, Sing to the Moon, came out in March 2013. But her follow up album of original tracks, The Dreaming Room, came out in January this year and is gaining ground on the hyperbole surrounding its predecessor.

With a set list marrying old and new, Birmingham’s O2 Institute crowd got to bear witness to the cherry pickings from Laura Mvula’s portfolio – including seminal tracks from both LPs, such as ‘Green Garden’, ‘She’, ‘Overcome’, ‘People’ and ‘Phenomenal Woman’.

Paul Reynolds was at the O2 Institute for Birmingham Review, shooting an extended photo feature to go into THE GALLERY. See a selection of Paul’s shots below, or click here for the full Flickr of pics (or on the link above). There’s some on our Instagram page too.

Laura Mvula @ O2 Institute 19.11.16 / Paul Reynolds

For more on Laura Mvula, visit www.lauramvula.com

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

For more from Metropolis Music, visit www.metropolismusic.com

For full gig listings & online tickets sales from Gigs and Tours, visit www.gigsandtours.com

February 8, 2016February 8, 2016

THE GALLERY: Mayday Parade @ O2 Institute 29.01.16

Pics by Harry Mills

On Friday 29^th January, Mayday Parade brought their Black Lines Tour to the O2 Institute in Digbeth – as presented by SJM Concerts.

Touring the UK & mainland Europe with their fifth album, the Tallahassee Pop/Rockers are supported on the road by The Maine, Have Mercy + Beautiful Bodies. Landing in Birmingham on the initial cusp of their midway point in the UK, Mayday Parade would play seven more dates on similar stages – before saying bon voyage to Britannia at the Pyramids Leisure Centre in Portsmouth.

Having dutifully stuck his hand in the air (and brought this gig to our attention in the first place), Harry Mills was at the O2 Institute to snap happy a Birmingham Review photoshoot for THE GALLERY. There’s a few selected below, one of each, but for the full Flickr of Pics click here or on the links above/below. Which you really should.

And apologies for missing Beautiful Bodies, but the queue was too long and time was too short… curse all that popularity; we’ll get you next time.

Mayday Parade @ O2 Institute 29.01.16 / By Harry Mills

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The Maine – supporting Mayday Parade @ O2 Institute 29.01.16 / By Harry Mills

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Have Mercy – supporting Mayday Parade @ O2 Institute 29.01.16 / By Harry Mills

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For more on Mayday Parade, visit http://maydayparade.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/

January 28, 2016January 28, 2016

BREVIEW: Victories at Sea @ Hare & Hounds 21.01.16

Words by Helen Knott / Pics by Joëlle O’Toole

Victories at Sea have an eye for detail. They are fastidious about everything, from the sound of their snare drum to their matching black clothes.

It’s the main reason it took them almost six years to release their debut album, Everything Forever, as apparently they only manage to write four new songs a year. But this obsessiveness is arguably both their biggest strength and biggest downfall.

I’m at the Hare & Hounds, the place where Victories at Sea launched Everything Forever back in October 2015. And the first thing you notice about Victories at Sea live is that for a band with only three members, they take up a lot of space. Massive analogue synths jostle for position with guitar pedals and a laptop, alongside the traditional guitar, bass, drums set up.

Perhaps surprisingly given their name (which, for some reason, led me to expect an evening of expansive Post-Rock) the sound all this equipment generates is that 80’s revival stuff made so popular by bands like Interpol. Imagine a dancier Editors and you won’t be far off the mark.

Indeed, Victories at Sea have supported Editors on a number of occasions and in some large venues. I can imagine this working very well – the band have a commercial sound, and are both confident and professional live performers. Songs like ‘Up’ and ‘Florentine’ (which could both easily be found on a Foals album) are certainly catchy and no doubt thoughtfully structured.

The trouble is the sound is so slick and controlled it starts to feel overproduced; nuances between songs get washed away in thick waves of reverb. As my friend said to me afterwards, “I enjoyed it quite a lot considering they only have one song”. Even adding computer samples doesn’t really help matters; in fact, as it makes it more difficult for the songs to change tempo or time signature, it actually only serves to exacerbate the problem.

And there isn’t enough bite or soul present tonight to elevate the songs above anything more than Indie dance floor fillers, for this member of the audience. Of course there’s nothing wrong with that per se, and certainly the people dancing at the front of the packed crowd are having a great time. But there are bands around at the moment, Savages for example, who are approaching this type of music in a more interesting way to me.

It would be good to see Victories at Sea be a little freer, more organic – to give their songs the space they need to breathe. And they write good songs. But perhaps they could be a little less obsessive in their search for perfection.

And as for album number two? Well, getting it out before 2021 will be a huge step in the right direction.

For more on Victories at Sea, visit https://soundcloud.com/victoriesatsea

For more from Static Caravan, visit http://www.staticcaravan.org

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For more from This is Tmrw, visit http://thisistmrw.co.uk/

For more from the Hare & Hounds, including full event listings & online tickets sales, visit http://hareandhoundskingsheath.co.uk/