Words by Ed King / Pics by Rob Hadley
‘We’re going to need a bigger boat…’
You got that right. On Saturday 22nd, Counteract celebrated its seven years around the sun with a smorgasbord of bands at The Sunflower Lounge, playing to a packed out room with no extra wiggle in sight.
Stacking the bill were The Mother’s Earth Experiment, The Hungry Ghosts, The Dream Collective and special guests, Jaws – sneaking in as a surprise headline appearance. Rob Hadley was there to shoot an extended photo feature for THE GALLERY, whilst Ed King caught up with Counteract founder, editor-in-chief and overall Captain Ahab, Richard Franks, earlier in the day. See a selection of Rob’s shots below and watch out for Ed’s interview with Richard Franks, online in May.
A celebration of The Midland’s music scene, Counteract’s 7th birthday was an homage to the great, good, long, short and curlies of today’s regional live circuit. Coming back to blow out the candles with a publication that backed them from the beginning, Jaws were on ferocious form – sending a sea of bodies bouncing ever closer to The Sunflower’s ceiling. Some crowd surfers may have even made it.
The Mother’s Earth Experiment gave a blistering set of multi-percussion-precision-psych-rock (‘dem boys play tight) bathed in what can only be described as ‘death by lava lamp’, whilst The Hungry Ghosts played their first Birmingham gig with their new line up (and a few new songs) – cramming two extra bags of blood and bone onto The Sunflower’s already relatively cozy stage. The Dream Collective were fixed at the bow though – opening the birthday shenanigans with a pretty inter‘stellar’ live set. Right, now where’s that life preserver…
Check out a cherry picked buffet of Rob Hadley’s pics below, or click on the relevant links to see the Full Flickr of Pics. There’s some on our Instagram page too. Enjoy. We did. Happy birthday Counteract; rock on to a cake with eight candles.
Jaws (special guests) @ Counteract’s 7th Birthday 22.04.17 / Rob Hadley – Birmingham Review
For more on Jaws, visit www.jawsjawsjaws.co.uk
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The Mother’s Earth Experiment @ Counteract’s 7th Birthday 22.04.17 / Rob Hadley – Birmingham Review
For more on The Mother’s Earth Experiment, visit www.themothersearthexperiment.bandcamp.com
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The Hungry Ghosts @ Counteract’s 7th Birthday 22.04.17 / Rob Hadley – Birmingham Review
For more on The Hungry Ghosts, visit www.the-hungry-ghosts.bandcamp.com
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The Dream Collective @ Counteract’s 7th Birthday 22.04.17 / Rob Hadley – Birmingham Review
For more on The Dream Collective, visit www.soundcloud.com/the_dream_collective
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For more on Counteract, visit www.counteract.co
For more from The Sunflower Lounge, visit www.thesunflowerlounge.com
