Town Hall

August 30, 2018August 30, 2018

BREVIEW: Project Soundlounge @ Town Hall 18.08.18

Words by Cariss Auburn & Ed King / Pics by Callum Lees

On Saturday 18^th August, Project Soundlounge returned to Birmingham’s Town Hall for its 6^th annual event. With entry free all night, a line up including Jerry Williams, Lady Sanity, Population:7, Riscas, FABRIK, and Cariss Auburn took to the Town Hall stage from 5pm.

Showcasing some of The Midlands’ brightest bands and musical stars in the making, Project Soundlounge is a one day festival organised by a collective of 16 to 25 year olds – giving young people a chance to promote a live music event in one of the most prestigious venues in the city. Seriously, this is quite an incredible opportunity for our region’s fledgling creatives. When I started out I had Slipmatt in The Dance Factory…

Although, giving young promoters such a large venue to play with – albeit a beautiful cavern – may not be the most confidence inspiring first foray into the world of selling tickets. Even if they’re for free.Promoting live music is hard, promoting it in Birmingham is even harder, and getting over 1,000 people to give up their Saturday is no mean feat. Ask Live Nation. Or whoever promoted the last Ani DiFranco gig within these walls.

But Project Soundlounge presents a good local line up. Not box ticking-public funding good either, but actually good. As in, I’d-pay-money-to-see-that kind of good. As in, i’d give up my Saturady. So here, with the programme, Project Soundlounge is not a hollow gesture – or even worse, a patronising pat on the back for people who need something to stick on a CV. It’s a confident first step – one that would have a decent crack at a lower end three digit capacity. And whilst other initiatives are out there purporting the same ‘opportunity for young people’, I’ve seldom see any that come this close to such a firm foot forward for both the people playing on stage and those that put them there.

But, as I can hear tired yawns from too much sycophantic copy floating in (a noise I’d probably be making if I wasn’t the one writing it) who better to tell you what’s what than someone at the centre of it all.

Carris Auburn is a Wolverhampton based ‘singer-songwriter and self-taught producer’, whose debut Unphased EP is worth some serious attention – gathering accolades from Glastonbury’s emerging talent hawks to longstanding soul legend Alexander O’Neal.

Auburn has also been compiling a series of cover songs in and around Wolverhampton, with the last one filmed Wightwick Manor to celebrate the ‘100 years after the first set of women gained the right to vote in the UK’ – a project that fell a little outside of our editorial postcode, but check out what the Express & Star had to say about it by clicking here.

Closer to (our) home, Carris Auburn recently played a headline set at The Kitchen Garden Café in Kings Heath – a gig we sadly missed due to too much diary juggling, but one we kicked ourselves repeatedly for not making. So to throw some well deserved column inches her way, and save us some thinly spread Saturday, we asked her to write a ‘diary entry about her experience playing’ at Project Soundlounge, giving us ‘an honest account of the night, on stage and off’.

And to her credit, she agreed:

08:59 / It’s the day of Project Soundlounge! A festival held at Birmingham’s Town Hall organised entirely by 16-25 year olds. This year it’s all in aid of national charity Crisis and their campaign to end homelessness and I’m starting the day in panic mode because I’ve woken up an hour late.

11:00 / We’re somehow arriving at the Town Hall way before our load in time of 11:40am and it’s a good thing because I’ve managed to drive straight past the entrance.

11:15 / Take two and we’re in, being greeted by Lydia, our go to person for the day.

12:00 / Soundcheck – the venue looks as impressive as ever with screens reminding everyone to donate. It’s a bit slow getting everything set up but we manage to get a song in. I tell the band about the cover of ‘I Say A Little Prayer’ I decided to learn last night as a tribute to Aretha Franklin. They agree to join in like the masters of improv they are.

12:25 / I spot Lady Sanity in the kitchenette area backstage waiting to soundcheck. There’s only time for a quick hello before I head back to Wolves for a couple hours.

17:15 / I’m back at the Town Hall and the comedy of errors continues as we realise the track for my final song ‘Oil on Water’ is missing. Someone pops up asking me for a bio but I never see her again. The debate of what to do continues down to the wire but a shift around in the order of the set solves the issue.

17:45 / Showtime! We’re up on stage to kick off the night after being introduced by a slightly nervous announcer. It’s not the easiest at first with a small audience in a vast hall but everyone warms up and and has fun on the stage, the performance whizzing by. The Aretha Franklin tribute goes smoothly and I don’t even notice the lack of backing for ‘Oil on Water.’

18:40 / By the time everyone is packed up and we’ve thanked Lydia, I’ve missed most of Population:7’s performance. I catch the end after chatting to a couple members of the audience. The seven piece are a mix of rappers and singers with an incredible drummer, soulful harmonies and masses of charisma.

19:00 / Next up are synth grunge outfit FABRIK who the announcer hilariously introduces as Population:7 by accident. Such a powerful vocal from the lead singer. One avid fan is dancing alone and the resident videographer is straight in with the 360º shots.

20:40 – After a fun set of covers from Crisis worker Jeremiah it’s four piece indie band Riscas. Frontman, George Maycock, comments on the surreal nature of playing the Town Hall – relatable. They’re instantaneously sweating and it’s an energetic performance of catchy songs that wouldn’t be out of place at Glastonbury.

21:30 / The penultimate act is Birmingham rapper Lady Sanity and she comes out swinging, the relentless delivery of her lyrics a stark contrast to the chilled old school hip hop beat as she raps about striving for better days. Dubbed “energy crew,” a small group of people at the front of the hall shout her lyrics back at her.

22:15 / Jerry Williams and her band are on and not to be dramatic but she is wearing the greatest trousers I have ever seen. The high octane set is a journey of beachy rock songs and post-punk. We’re given some beautiful stripped back pieces – one solo song is an ode to an alcoholic’s promise to go sober if she wrote a song about him. A slick cover of Jamie T’s ‘If You Got the Money’ has a lot more people up on their feet and it’s a great end to the night.

22:35 / At this point the audience is largely made up of the organisers. I had thought it was a shame to see the event so sparsely attended and I encourage people that may read this now to donate what they can to Crisis. However, sat watching on my own, I felt the emptiness of the surrounding grandeur create this defiant pocket of live music energy and it was something I was truly proud to be a part of.

23:05 / I grab my things and walk out to my car, being reminded that it’s Saturday night by a passing hen do. I hope Project Soundlounge goes from strength to strength over the coming years, for the charities it helps and the young people it motivates.

Jerry Williams – Project Soundlounge @ Town Hall 18.08.17 / Callum Lees

For more on Jerry Williams, visit www.facebook.com/Jerrywilliamsmusic

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Lady Sanity – Project Soundlounge @ Town Hall 18.08.17 / Callum Lees

For more on Lady Sanity, visit www.ladysanity.com

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Riscas – Project Soundlounge @ Town Hall 18.08.17 / Callum Lees

For more on Riscas, visit www.riscasofficial.com

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Jeremiah (from Crisis) – Project Soundlounge @ Town Hall 18.08.17 / Callum Lees

For more on Crisis, visit www.riscasofficial.com

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FABRIK – Project Soundlounge @ Town Hall 18.08.17 / Callum Lees

For more on FABRIK, visit www.fabriktheband.co.uk

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Population:7 – Project Soundlounge @ Town Hall 18.08.18 / Callum Lees

For more on Population:7, visit www.population7.com

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Carris Auburn – Project Soundlounge @ Town Hall 18.08.17 / Callum Lees

For more on Carris Auburn, visit www.carissauburnmusic.com

To know more about Crisis, with links for online donations to the charity, visit www.crisis.org.uk

For more on Project Soundlounge, visit www.facebook.com/ProjectSoundLounge

For more on the Town Hall and Symphony Hall, including venue details and further event listings, visit www.thsh.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 25, 2018July 25, 2018

BPREVIEW: Blame It On Bianca Del Rio @ Symphony Hall 30.07.18

Words by Ashleigh Goodwin

Following her sell out Not Today Satan tour in 2016/7 , Bianca Del Rio is back at Birmingham’s Symphony Hall with her Blame It On Bianca stand-up comedy show on Monday 30^th July.

The evening’s entertainment starts in the Symphony Hall Foyer & Café Bar from 6pm with a live performance from Soprano Alexandra Bork and pianist Nick Bonadies, followed by a ‘pre-show party’ with DJ Lady Miss Ikea at 7pm. The main Blame It On Bianca show is scheduled to start at 8.30pm.

The event is strictly 16+ and is currently sold out, with no further tickets planned for release at the time of writing. For direct show information, including venue details and online ticket sales, click here.

Bianca Del Rio is primarily known as the winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 6, with her outspoken nature, caustic comedy, and razor-sharp wit quickly making her a firm fan favorite. Del Rio was further voted as the viewers’ favorite winner from Drag Race Seasons 1-6 in a poll conducted by Logo TV, the then broadcaster of the RuPaul show.

Bianca Del Rio solidified her competency and professionalism as a performer through iconic RuPaul challenges such as ‘The Snatch Game’ and the ‘Queens of Comedy’, with the show’s titular host saying of her stand up routine in the latter that not only did she “kill it,” she “murdered it”. This should give you a hint of the possible hilarity/havoc on its way to the Symphony Hall stage.

To open the night, FLUID Festival are presenting free pre-show entertainment ‘as part of Symphony Hall’s foyer events programme’ before the Blame It On Bianca Del Rio show. Soprano Alexandra Bork and pianist Nick Bonadies will be performing from 6pm, whose collaboration ‘focuses on opera’s heart-shatteringly high-diva moments to cabaret classics… and smashes down walls between classical concert halls and queer performance spaces. ’

Additionally, ‘international dance music DJ’ Lady Miss Ikea will be appearing from 7pm, playing a mixture of ‘the most glamorous deep, house, disco and wildest pop’ and getting the audience ready for the “clown in a gown” Del Rio.

And whilst self-proclaimed, “clown in a gown” only touches the surface of Bianca Del Rio, with costume designing, three stand-up comedy tours, numerous theatre performances, and film roles all under her belt. Del Rio was also the ‘first contestant in the shows’ history’ of the phenomenally popular RuPaul’s Drag Race ‘to make it through the entire competition without every placing in the bottom three for a challenge’ – with Del Rio’s ‘go hard or go home’ ethos also taking her recent Blame It On tour across Australia, Asia, South America, North America and mainland Europe before landing in the UK.

Not a bad list of accolades, let’s just hope she’s got some energy left. For as the queen of insult comedy has said of Monday’s event: “I hope you’re ready for some filthy, nasty, hateful humor because I’m coming to Birmingham with a brand-new comedy show”. Symphony Hall front row, you have been warned.

Bianca Del Rio brings her Blame It On stand up show to the Symphony Hall on Monday 30th July 2018. There will be pre-show entertainment from soprano Alexandra Bork and pianist Nick Bonadies, as well as a set from DJ Lady Miss Ikea in the Symphony Hall Foyer & Café Bar. For direct show information, including venue details and online ticket sales, visit www.thsh.co.uk/event/blame-it-on-bianca-del-rio

For more on Bianca Del Rio, visit www.thebiancadelrio.com

For more from the Town & Symphony Halls, including venue details and further event listings, visit www.thsh.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.

May 22, 2018May 25, 2018

ELEANOR’S PICK: Slam Dunk Festival 2018 (Midlands) @ NEC 28.05.18

Words by Eleanor Sutcliffe

Slam Dunk Festival 2018 (Midlands) comes to the NEC in Birmingham on 28^th May. For a direct event information, including venue details and online ticket sales, visit www.gentingarena.co.uk/whats-on/slam-dunk-festival

As one of the most anticipated dates in the UK pop punk calendar, it’s safe to say Slam Dunk Festival are taking no prisoners with this year’s line up. With a bevy of bands and artists descending upon the NEC in just under a week’s time, I took it upon myself to comb through the roster and select a number that I personally love.

Holding Absence / Rock Sound Breakout Stage

Birmingham favourites, Holding Absence, are set to make their Slam Dunk debut this year on the Rock Sound Breakout Stage. Having recently announced the departure of guitarist Feisal El-Khazragi, it will be one of their first performances without him in their line up. But with Holding Absence recently nominated for Best British Breakthrough Band at the 2018 Heavy Metal Awards, plus playing a string of dates supporting Being as an Ocean across Europe in June, they’re certainly not letting El-Khazragi’s departure slow them down.

Represented by Sharptone Records – who bought us the likes of Don Broco, Miss May I and We Came As Romans – the Cardiff based band also recently toured and released a co-EP with Loathe titled This Is As One, which earned them numerous positive reviews from critics for tracks such as ‘Saint Cecilia’.

Holding Absence perform at 3:30pm on the Rock Sound Breakout Stage. For more on Holding Absence, visit www.holdingabsence.com

‘Saint Cecilia’ – Holding Absence

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PVRIS / Jägermeister Main Stage

Having recently performed at Coachella, PVRIS will be returning to Birmingham hot off the heels of the American leg of their All We Know of Heaven, All We Need Of Hell tour – promoting their latest album of the same name.

Lynn Gunn’s dreamy vocals, combined with the band’s heavy rock influences, have earned them a dedicated fanbase and won them Rock Sound’s Artist of the Year Award back in 2017. Here’s hoping PVRIS also perform some tracks from their debut album, White Noise, with songs such as ‘St. Patrick’ and ‘My House’ being on my personal wish list.

PVRIS perform at 8:15 pm on the Jägermeister Main Stage. For more on PVRIS, visit www.pvris.com

‘Anyone Else’ – PVRIS

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Taking Back Sunday / Monster Energy Main Stage

Returning to Slam Dunk for the 3^rd time, Taking Back Sunday were in the first wave of bands to be confirmed to at perform this year’s festival.

Having released their 7^th album, Tidal Waves, in September 2016, and parting ways with their original guitarist Eddie Rayes last month, it will be interesting to see if we get to hear any new material from the group. Although I’m hoping to hear classic tracks such as ‘You’re So Last Summer’ and ‘MakeDamnSure’ as well as songs such as ‘You Can’t Look Back’ from their latest album live.

Taking Back Sunday perform at 8:05pm on the Monster Energy Main Stage. For more on Taking Back Sunday, visit www.takingbacksunday.com

‘You’re So Last Summer’ – Taking Back Sunday

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Astroid Boys / Impericon Stage

The Impericon stage will be hosting hardcore grime band Astroid Boys, who have always delivered impressive shows in Birmingham. Growing steadily since their formation back in 2012, they were bought to my attention after being featured in BBC Radio 4’s documentary Operation Grime, which tailed them on a tour across the UK.

Astroid Boys‘ music is not for the faint hearted – expect brutal lyrics addressing issues such as racism, mashed with hardcore and grime influences to create a sound you probably have never heard before… but will just as probably want to listen to again.

Astroid Boys perform at 2:20 pm on the Impericon Stage. For more on Astroid Boys, visit www.astroid-boys.com

‘Foreigners’ – Astroid Boys

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As It Is / Signature Brew Stage

Announcing the August release of their latest album, The Great Depression, only a few days ago, Brighton based As It Is will be headlining the Signature Brew stage this year.

A band who’ve amassed a dedicated fan base with tracks such as ‘Dial Tones’ and ‘Hey Rachel’, their material is catchy, easy to listen to and fun – however it’s unfair to assume they lack a more serious side. Their latest release, ‘The Wounded World’, delves into a much darker side of their ever-expanding noise, having been cited by the band as a ‘new era’ of their music which expands on ‘the societal romanticisation of depression’ and ‘the disrepair of present-day human connection’.

As ever with this band, though, As It Is approach their subject with the respect and sensitivity it warrants – referencing their new material as a means for them to work to create a positive change for mental health.

As It Is perform at 8:30pm on the Signature Brew Stage. For more from As It Is, visit www.asitisofficial.bandcamp.com

‘The Wounded World’ – As It Is

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Luke Rainsford / The Key Club Acoustic Stage

The Key Club Acoustic Stage is hosting a stellar line up of bands and artists, including Birmingham’s Luke Rainsford – combining upbeat guitar with gut wrenching vocals, making music that is hard hitting but a real treat to listen to.

Having toured the UK extensively since the release of I Feel At Home With You in February 2017, and having recently released his latest EP, I Just Don’t Deserve To Be Loved, in April 2018, Rainsford’s music deals with difficult issues such as loss, bereavement, low self esteem and mental health. Good, honest stuff.

Luke Rainsford performs at 4:15 pm on The Key Club Acoustic Stage. For more on Luke Rainsford, visit www.lukerainsford.bandcamp.com

‘Home Safe’ – Luke Rainsford

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltnvyxgWovs

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Stand Atlantic / Rock Sound Breakout Stage

Australian trio, Stand Atlantic, will also be making their Slam Dunk debut this year, having recently toured with other performers such as ROAM and Knuckle Puck. With their latest EP, Sidewinder, reaching an impressive #10 on Rock Sound’s Top 50 Albums of 2017, and having been cited by Kerrang! as one of the hottest bands of 2018, Stand Atlantic are proving they’re a force to be reckoned with.

Claiming influences from Blink-182 to The 1975, they’re certainly considered a mixed bag musically too – but in the best possible way. Trust me. Go and listen to ‘Coffee at Midnight’. You can thank me later.

Stand Atlantic perform at 6:00 pm on the Rock Sound Breakout Stage. For more on Stand Atlantic, visit www.facebook.com/StandAtlantic

‘Coffee at Midnight’ – Stand Atlantic

Slam Dunk Festival 2018 (Midlands) comes to the NEC in Birmingham on 28^th May. For direct information on Slam Dunk Festival 2018, including details on all the events happening across the UK, visit www.slamdunkmusic.com

For a direct info and online ticket sales for Slam Dunk Festival 2018 (Midlands), visit www.gentingarena.co.uk/whats-on/slam-dunk-festival

For more from the Genting Arena, including full events listing and venue details, visit www.gentingarena.co.uk

March 4, 2018March 4, 2018

ED’S PICK: March ‘18

Words by Ed King

**Due to the severe weather conditions, some March editorial may be delayed. It has nothing to do with 1) hangovers, 2) gigs on a Sunday that cause hangovers, 3) each episode of The Deuce being 1hr long. It’s the snow… it’s all about the snow**

The BIG NEWS this month is that Rews are coming back to Birmingham, finishing of their England tour with a special gig at the Hare & Hounds on Thursday 22^nd March – joined by an awesome local line up, Tamworth’s garage rock two piece You Dirty Blue and Birmingham’s rising balloon punksters P.E.T.

Still out smashing holes in radio playlists and the right kind of ear drums across the country, Rews are back on the road (do they ever stop!?!?) with their debut album Pyro – a rock pop stonker which we thoroughly suggest you check out. Read my Birmingham Review of the ten track beast here, or cut out the middle person and just get yourself a copy. You can bill me if you’re unhappy.

But Rews are a step up live. And don’t just take my word for it, ask any of the following: Hew Edwards, Mark Radcliffe, John Kennedy, Scott Mills, Alice Levine, Dev, Greg James, Scott Mills, Clara Amfo, Adele Roberts… (and that’s just the beeb). Or anyone who’s seen them play. Or Google. It’s not a difficult cross reference.

Of course, the best way to know for absolute certainty is to come and see Rews at the Hare & Hounds on 22^nd March – for direct gig info and links to online ticket sales, click here. Or to can hop over to the Facebook event page for updates, info and links aplenty – click here.

WARNING – CONTAINS CIVIC PRIDE: Rews have bolted Birmingham onto their England tour dates because their last gig in the city was such a stormer – Birmingham loves Rews, and it seems there’s a little mutual flutter there too. So, come down to the Hare on 22^nd March, enjoy an awesome gig from Rews, You Dirty Blue and P.E.T, and stand on for your local live music scene. BRUMMIES UNITE.

And breathe…. There are other gigs this month, some pretty high profile shows too. In the land of five figure crowds, the Genting Arena hosts All Time Low (15^th Mar) and the resplendent resurfacing of Paloma Faith (21^st Mar). Whilst at Arena Birmingham we see some of America’s A-Lists rock with Fall Out Boy (27^th Mar) and 30 Seconds to Mars (29^th Mar). So, that’ll keep you busy. And a little broke.

N.B. Paul Weller was scheduled to play at the Genting Arena on 2nd March, but due to the school run slaying beast from the east (erm, the snow) this gig has been postponed. When we know more…

Editors play an ‘intimate’ gig at the Town Hall (4^th Mar) to showcase their new album, Violence. Whilst across town Hookworms headline at the Hare & Hounds (4^th Mar), and across the road Amit Dittani introduces his debut solo album, Santiago, at the Kitchen Garden Café (4^th Mar).

Elsewhere in the city, Ezio return to Birmingham but this time at the Kitchen Garden Cafe (7^th Mar), Astroid Boys tour their debut album, Broke, at The Asylum (1th Mar), Feeder take us on a retrospective love in at the O2 Academy (14^th Mar), Joan Baez celebrates the end of a near 60 year live career as her Fare Thee Well Tour comes to the Symphony Hall (14^th Mar), The Stranglers come to the O2 Academy (17^th Mar), ‘First Lady of Celtic Music’ and Clannad family member Moya Brennan plays at the Glee Club (20^th Mar), whilst Rae Morris brings a sneak peak of her sophomore album, Someone Out There, to the O2 Institute (21^st Mar). Phew… can anyone lend me a tenner?

And so exciting it gets it’s own paragraph, electronic music pioneers, Plaid, bring their AV tour to the Hare & Hounds on 10^th March. A pivotal piece in the EDM jigsaw, Plaid come back to Birmingham after their sell out gig in the city last year – if this show doesn’t pack out then there’s something inherently wrong with the world, so we would suggest getting your Warp loving wriggle on and buying a ticket or two quick smart. For direct gig info and online ticket sales, click here or on the relevant hyper link.

A little later in the month the same promoters, Scratch Club, are putting on a breaks, beats and hip hop free bash at One Trick Pony with Dr Syntax (The Mouse Outfit, Foreign Beggars) & Pete Cannon, joined by Birmingham’s own DMC champion Mr Switch (30^thMar). For free..!?!? Now that’s a good bloomin’ Friday.

Film is stomping is size 10s across the city too, a cheeky month before Flatpack #12, with a healthy collage of celluloid (well, probably digital now) coming to screens in a variety of Birmingham venues. Ruben Östlund’s takes a well-penned stab at the pretensions of class and art with The Square – on general UK release from 16^th March, before coming to The Electric (23^rd Mar) and mac (30^th Mar). Whilst mac programme a centennial celebration of Ingmar Burgman with The Seventh Seal (16^th Mar), The Touch (17^th Mar) and Persona (18^th Mar).

The Mockingbird hosts a Wes Anderson Marathon (18^th Mar) featuring The Royal Tenenbaums at 12noon, Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou at 2:30pm, Fantastic Mr Fox at 5:00pm and The Grand Budapest Hotel at 6:45pm. Bit of a welcome refresher course before Anderson’s latest (and animated) feature, Isle of Dogs, is out on general release from 30^th March – with two preview screenings at The Electric (25^th Mar) if you wanted to jump the gun a little.

The Mockingbird are also showing the eponymous biopic about the notorious fashion designer, Westwood, throughout the month. But we recommend you wait until 26^th March, so you can jump straight into Here to be Heard: The Story of The Slits – another biopic, but this time about an altogether more altogether slice of formative female punk.

On the city’s smaller silver screens this March, Neighbourhood present a series of comedy shorts at Artefact in Stirchley (21^st Mar) – with a pay as you feel fundraiser for SIFA Fireside, a Birmingham based organisation who support ‘those experiencing homelessness or who are vulnerably-housed.’ A great charity that deserves our cash and consideration; look outside, now pay what you feel.

Elsewhere, The Victoria welcomes the rescheduled Birmingham Horror Group: Mini-Movie Marathon (25^th Mar) which is also fundraising – this time ‘with proceeds from ticket sales going to the medical charity Diabetes UK’. Whilst the Kitchen Garden Café screen the Arnie body count craziness and all round awesome… Predator (20^th Mar) – which we are more than a little happy about. I’m off to buy a dog eared cigar, dog eared dog tags, and practice the film’s profound script such as, “if it bleeds we can kill it”. Powerful stuff Arn, Kierkegaard?

Treading the boards this month, Joe Black starts the UK run of his new show, Touch of Evil: A Celebration of Villainy in Song, with two nights at The Old Joint Stock (09-10^th Mar). The Birmingham REP stages fingersmiths’ rewrite of John Godber’s Up’n’Under (12-14^th Mar) – a play about pride and adversity (and rugby, to be fair) which has been adapted for all audiences ‘with a cast of Deaf and hearing actors using British Sign Language and spoken English’.

Overlapping a little bit, REP also present The Kite Runner (13-24^th Mar) performed in venue’s main theatre, coming to Birmingham after ‘an outstanding’ run in the West End. Then back in the ‘burbs, The Wardrobe Ensemble present their tale 90’s nostalgia and the Blair honeymoon – Education, Education, Education – at mac (20^th Mar).

On the more glamourous side of town, Alyssa Edwards’ The Secret Is Out Tour saunters over to the Glee Club (7^th Mar), before BCU’s Burlesque society present Dare to Desire at the Bierkeller (15^th Mar) and Scarlett Daggers brings The Gilded Merkin burlesque show back to the Glee Club (18^th Mar). Not far behind is Ben DeLaCreme, with her ‘terminally delightful’ show coming to the Glee Club (29^th Mar) – a day before Klub Kids present The Twisted Circus in all its glitz and glory at the O2 Academy (30^th Mar).

Comedy has a pretty decent crack of the whip in March too, kicking off with Russell Brand’s Re:Birth at Symphony Hall (8^th Mar) before the Glee Club takes the reigns until April, with Phil Wang (11^th Mar), John Robbins (21^st Mar) and Tiff Stevenson (23^rd Mar).

Outside of all that, if you’ve got any dry socks or shekles left, there’s A Notorious Odyssey at The Electric (24^th Mar) – as Birmingham’s 35 piece a cappella choir, notorious, take us on ‘a musical voyage where no audience has gone before’ performing ‘tunes from sc-fi films and TV, to music inspired by space and the future.’

Across town and the space-time continuum, Rupi Kaur presents an evening of performance poetry the Town Hall (24^th Mar) including work from her recently released second collection, The Sun and Her Flowers. Then just shy of a week later, Richard P Rogers rounds off the month with his Frank Cook and the Birmingham Scene exhibition at mac’s Community Gallery (30^th Mar) – a study of the titular Ladywood artist, as he worked his way from the north Birmingham back to backs to art school in London in the late 1960’s.

Right then, a fair amount happening in March – I’m off to do some diary/bank statement cross referencing. And maybe drink a glass of wine, or two. What day is it again…?

For more on any of the events listed here, click on the highlighted hyperlinks. Ed King is Editor-in-Chief of Review Publishing, which issues both the Birmingham Review and Birmingham Preview.

February 3, 2018

BREVIEW: Katherine Ryan – Glitter Room @ Symphony Hall 02.02.18

Words by Ed King

We filed slowly, languidly into the hall. The auditorium was vast… But not silent, which is an immediate win for a Birmingham crowd.

I love my home city, but it can be a tough cookie for any touring artist – from the Insane Clown Posse to Ani DiFranco, you just can’t be sure when it come to a Birmingham gig. And I have never seen comedy at the Symphony Hall; a huge room, indeed a ‘vast auditorium’, one a friend astutely described as “the 1980’s trying to do the 1950’s”.

But if tonight isn’t sold out, then it’s a damn near close. All I can count are the empty chairs stuck in traffic or cursing an AWOL babysitter. Booking Joe Lycett as support was a bold local move too. So bold it could have even backfired, as Lycett takes to the intimidating plateau that is the Symphony Hall stage (without a orchestra on it at least) and makes it as cosy as your living room. Cosier, in fact, like the living room of a good friend but one who won’t expect you to clean up afterwards. Or a total stranger’s when you’ve drunk too much to care.

Taking us to the interval and in some case to our seats, as with the unlucky couple that arrive a little late (once the show had started, once the stand up comedy show had started, once the stand up comedy show had started in front of thousands of people that can see you’re in the wrong aisle) Lycett confidently segues from jokes of civic humour to the best use for an Amazon Alexa. Extreme, funny, and extremely funny, the now Kings Heathen is about to embark on his I’m About to Lose Control and I think Joe Lycett (nice) tour, kicking off the day before Valentines. Definitely one to watch out for, and then watch. If you can. It’s pretty much sold out too.

Sauntering onto the big and empty Symphony Hall stage, “it’s a long walk…”, Katherine Ryan looks resplendent in pink silk (I think) with red frills. Or her Vagina Trousers, as we are quickly informed. So there’s an image that will never leave my mind. Assured, tempered by a tour that’s been running since September, and all the qualities that a stand up Faust would be picking his scabs to sign, seal and deliver, Ryan opens with jokes about relationships, the ending of relationships, and moving six thousand miles away with your fingers crossed – an oddly narcissistic approach to putting your emotional cards on the table. Immediately engaging, Ryan turns what could have been trite into fresh and personal material, inviting us into walk though the weird worlds we all inhabit (even if some of us aren’t totally aware of our terrain). Honest, the fun side of frustrated, and cut to perfection; I will never look at a dolphin in quite the same way again.

From jibes about her “ineffectual butler” daughter, be it stalking Anna Kendrick or learning the difference between “day wine and night wine”, to an accentuated recount of when her family came over from the “trashy part” of Canada to see her small London freehold, Ryan has a firm grip on her delivery. Its gut wrenching; at one point I honestly feel the cartilage between my ribs ask me to stop. But by the time my favourite line of the night is uttered, namely that the Frank Sinatra standard ‘My Way’ is the “anthem of a cunt”, it’s clear there is to be little respite. And I will love that sentence until the day that I die.

But Ryan’s wrath is anything than just pure self deprecation, as everyone from her school gate peers – the bake sale obsessed Julie (who I swear is a more fertile version of my step mother) to the Lycra obsessed husband who would get “hate fucked” back in his box, get an astute poke in the ribs. And if you’ve ever spent “two Christmases” traversing a bitter and empty motorway…

Celebrity culture is also in range, as public domain miscreants – from R Kelly to the misogynists of musical theatre – receive a taste of the lash. But don’t worry, an escape to any would be sexual predator is offered; just “don’t fuck vulnerable women”, as the chant that never was (but should have been) rings around the back rows of the West End.

There is even a little time for some proxy president poking, filtered through the plight of “the world’s most unlucky gold digger” Melania Trump. And despite the clear attack at the abject horror that currently sits in The White House, this once again over used subject is the conduit for another piece of acerbic genius – namely that the maligned First Lady is only “one line of coke and an aggressive hand job” away from inheritance and freedom. We can but hope. Or perhaps even help, to a point. I know a guy with some cracking Colombian flake…

Katherine Ryan’s Glitter Room is on tour across the UK until the 24^th March 2018. For more on Katherine Ryan, including full tour dates and online ticket sales, visit www.katherineryan.co.uk

For more on Joe Lycett, visit www.joelycettcomedy.co.uk

For more from Live Nation UK, including further event listings and online ticket sales, visit www.livenation.co.uk

For more from both the Symphony and Town Halls, including further event listings and online ticket sales, visit www.thsh.co.uk