SWMRS, Destroy Boys - Institute - Mar 11, 2019

SWMRS have carved out a niche for themselves in the under-18 crowd. A strong mixed-sex crowd showed up downstairs at the Institute (some lugging their parents along to stand, roped-off, at the back). From the get-go these four fellas had the crowd eating out of their hands, despite the somewhat straightforward banter although I did like after an individual cheer for each of the openers they said "and now the most important cheer... for your moms!" It was good clean fun with a giant swell of a pit going for pretty much the entire night that cleared those of us not feeling as into it to the sidelines or back beside the sound booth while the rest moshed about. Picking from only two albums the hour long set-list consisted of pretty much everything, though my favourite moment was probably the Bloc Party cover of Helicopter that really proved their chops to me in how tight they were. Earlier in the set they were not very impressive musically but it may have just been the sound, with the vocals lost deep in the mix. For the most part it was upbeat and rocking, new tracks including the title from last month's Berkeley's On Fire hit their mark, though they did mix in their brooding Miley Cyrus loving tune later on, and the chilled first album closer, Lose It. I won't pretend to know all their songs but they probably hit their high point on the third from last when I expected them to call it. Seeing as they didn't encore I could pretend that this was their set closer and the next two which didn't match quite the intensity were the encore. All in all they were pretty good but I may just leave them for the kids next time and stay home with the record.

Zuzu definitely pushed the punk out of the room with some more straightforward songs. I'm not even sure how to classify it as despite her decent vocals the music was rather blasé. Her speaking voice on the other hand.. I couldn't make sense of it. She claims to be from Liverpool but that didn't sound like any Scouse I've heard before. Is she putting it on? Am I that sheltered? 

Destroy Boys are a bunch of girls out to destroy the male dominated punk rock world. Maybe not destroy it but show that they definitely deserve their own place in it. Every one of them demonstrated their way around their instrument and as a whole they write a solid rock song. With long hair and tees they played their way through an entirely too short set and had the kids in the audience moshing along (not that this was too hard, but still). I'd keep an eye out as they seem like their just at the start of a fruitful career.

Big Character were up first once we got through the queue of teenagers out on the sidewalk. There was very little to set these guys apart from much of anything else.

Art Brut - Hare and Hounds - Feb 15, 2019

Art Brut

I knew it was going to be a good set when they opened with Formed a Band which to me is their signature sound even over a decade later. By song two Eddie Argos was already off on a tangent with a meandering story about being in the Van Gogh (which he repeatedly pronounced Van Goff, and as he is reportedly a big fan perhaps we're all saying it wrong?) museum in Amsterdam that ended with him licking a painting and being escorted from the premises through a security exit. Throughout the telling of the story he had to repeatedly ask for "Softer, Art Brut!" and I found it endearing that he referred to his band by their name all night. The story truly ended with My Little Brother which reassured me after the five minute banter after only song one that it would still be a good show. Perhaps their timing will improve as this was the kickoff show of the tour and judging by Eddie's verbosity he was obviously excited to be back out on the road. Some of these ramblings spoke of chats with his mother trying to convince them to get the new album out because 'yelling music' is back in. "'Have you heard Sleaford Mods?' Yeah, Ma. I've heard Sleaford Mods. 'Have you heard Idles?' Yes, Ma. I love Idles."

Following this they broke out a couple from the new, refreshingly strong album, Wham! Bam! Pow! Let's Rock Out! including She Kissed Me (and it felt like a hit) and I Hope You're Very Happy Together, and far as I was concerned their bases were now covered. It carried on with good humour and good music that entertained all, even my non-familiar, non-gig-going mate. Partway through Eddie asked the crowd for suggestions and once he heard what he was waiting for he said "Put away your setlists, Art Brut, we're gonna do Emily Kane!" At which point a cheeky audience member shouted out "Get over it!" much to everyone's amusement. After a few others from the inner albums that weren't too familiar to me but still sounded alright we came towards an end. With an early Friday night curfew they were aware of the time and forwent their finale for an 8-minute rendition of Modern Art that saw Eddie out in the crowd telling stories and getting laughs. Everyone seemed to be beaming on the way out as a band very much known for its yesteryear had put on a very good time today.

Luke Wright
Luke Wright burst onto the stage with energy and enthusiasm, quick to get things underway before he lost the crowd. Nearly apologising for being a spoken word artist at a music gig his wit and self-deprecating humour shone through but it was the poetry that really hit home. Modern, political (left), British and sharp he hit on the modern experience with jabs that came so quick that people were silent and straining to pick up on each one. A take-down of a British celebrity that I'm unaware of that utilised only one vowel throughout the entire piece was as ridiculous and impressive as that concept sounds. Luke confided that he had tried to open for Art Brut many years earlier and had been bottled off the stage but on this evening with perhaps a more mature crowd he had us rapt.

Exotic Pets
A local three-piece, Exotic Pets played some rocking indie music. It was rather straightforward but that wasn't a bad thing. The finale changed pace slightly but they still did not stray into overly memorable material.

The Burning Hell - Sunflower Lounge - Dec 13, 2015

Starting as the truly duet show that was advertised Mathias and his partner, Ariel, treated us to "love songs" fresh from their Don't Believe the Hyperreal album. With Mathias on acoustic and Ariel on clarinet, both lending their complementary voices, it was instantly engaging even only having heard the new songs once the night before. Following these they did break out some classic Burning Hell tunes, eschewing a set list and instead taking requests from the intimate and engaged audience. This brought a variety of songs to the stage but with a catalog like his it's hard to go wrong. Old World was played, and Amateur Rapper in finale. I hadn't shouted out during the first call but now was my chance as in the small room we cheered them back for a one song encore - "Florida!" Sure enough they complied with "possibly the first Burning Hell song" and had us sing love along. Beautiful.

Reel Big Fish, Less than Jake - Academy Birmingham - Nov 11, 2018

Suburban Legends tongue-in-cheekily introduced themselves as "The Opening Band" but in reality it seems like a role they were built to play. And that's not a knock on them but an endorsement of the kind of energy and instant likeability that they exude, enough to win over new converts in the span of a set, or even a song. They played slick punk rock with a trumpeter and tromboner running around in synchronisation for much of the set, including a mock sword fight with their instruments. The entire band got in on some of the choreography which was so cheesy it was actually rather entertaining. The surprisingly mustachioed lead singer sang clearly and was confident yet humble in his banter. Doing exactly what they were meant to do they went from being "who's this?" as we walked in the door to "well those guys were fun! Who's next?" by the end of it.

Zebrahead were another of those bands that I surely saw by happenstance opening for someone like Goldfinger back in the day. Judging by the lack of familiarity with the set it must have just been in passing. With their duo of emo singer and kinda spit-rapper, they had a unique dynamic but didn't really impress me. No dance moves. They did have a couple guys dressed as beer bottles on stage just to drink and have drinking contests with crowd members but I wouldn't say it added anything to the set. I think I walked out of it at Slam Dunk in the summer but this time around that wasn't an option. It wasn't terrible it just didn't really speak to me.

Up next were Reel Big Fish, as I guess it's a co-headlining tour where they swap closing roles. Consummate professionals after all these years, (decades would be more appropriate) they played a fun, polished set of hits and cover-hits spanning their catalogue. From the most recent 2012 release we had Everyone Else is an Asshole and then they also dug back into classics like their famous Brown-Eyed Girl cover. Speaking of, of course they did their own tunes too like Sellout, after their now ritual round of playing choruses of other people's 90's hits first - this time Smashmouth's All Star and Semisonic's Closing Time. Later during their tune that tables similar topics of being dumb but not a dweeb, Beer, they also managed to integrate Offspring's Self Esteem seamlessly. Good fun was She Has a Girlfriend Now, although really just about everything they do is fun. And after all this time if you're not having fun then what's the point? After nearly selling out the Academy it proves that there's still an appetite for ska or at least having a laugh and a skank at a show. To be honest, it probably wasn't all that different from the half-set I saw at Slam Dunk this summer or the Fireball tour from last year but if it works then tinker but don't change it!

Again I expected to know more of the Less than Jake tunes than I ended up (almost none) but it didn't really matter because they are that good and know how to put on a show. Being the night-of-the-morning-after for me I wasn't keen to mosh around and so stayed to the outside, but just skiring the edge of the shenanigans. The frontman did a few stupid things, presumably to entertain himself as much as us at this point in his career, like turning up the house lights to call a female security guard from the upper deck down to the stage (she did not oblige), attempting to vape (although he called it something much more vulgar) from someone's pen in the crowd, and even calling out a massive dude from the crowd to come on stage and proceed to just kill it by being an amazing hypeman. A bit of showmanship, a bit of interaction, a lot of solid punk rock, all added up to a good time had by all.

The Arkells, Joel Hagan and the Family - Hare & Hounds - Nov 28, 2018

The Arkells
It felt like a warm-up tour for these guys who are playing hockey arenas across their homeland in the new year. By no means is this a bad thing, especially considering this was a few hundred person capacity room at the Hare and Hounds (for a tenner.) They seemed to play a lot of the new stuff which makes sense if you wanna polish it up, but completely omitting the debut, even in encore, seemed like an oversight for those there from the start. Michigan Left was the oldest track from their catalogue all night. Max does have the showman vibe yet still manages to have a few awkward moments within, not necessarily terrible but a little distracting in telling random stories or trying to hush shrieking Canadian female fans. "Represent our country respectfully." He also tried to win us over based on geography with a call for our best English accents on Leather Jacket (uh, English people don't have English "accents") and not pronouncing the city of Birmingham properly doesn't help. Using a bunch of other modern tricks, Max went into the crowd early to sing a song while stood on a stool (say that 5 times fast!) at the back, and the whole band returned later for an "acoustic" (though more like unplugged since they were still electric instruments) version of Book Club that was an unscripted request while the drummer tended to a broken snare with duct tape. There was, of course, some clap- and sing-alongs, as their brand of stadium rock is wont to have, and the crowd happily obliged on these. Now a staple of Foo Fighters shows, the boys asked for anyone who played guitar to stick up their hands. It wasn't exactly a stampede to get on stage but one woman did put her hand up and once she told them she didn't need their stinking guitar picks - she used her fingers - she played the part rather well, literally and figuratively. People's Champ was alright and a sign of where they have gone as a band with the chant-along accessibility and polished soar. They played a solid hour and some before faking the encore "we don't have anywhere to go" and bringing most of opener, Hagen and the Family, back onstage, minus Wonder Woman. They did a fan-voted cover "Theresa May stole it from Abba and we're stealing it back!" (I will put on record that I voted for Whitney.) The rendition was a bit of a hot mess, with Hagan forgetting some of the lyrics and everyone else trying to share mics, but it seemed joyous. After booting those guys back out I thought we might get John Lennon, alas it wasn't meant to be and I don't even recall at the moment the closer that took them minutes past curfew.

Joel Hagan and The Family

This was the only time I've ever queued at the Hare and Hounds at all, let alone down the stairs, out the door, and into the street. There must have been some anticipation for the openers, Joel Hagan and the Family, despite it not even being a fully sold out gig. The glitter on the faces of a large smattering of people stood in front of me was explained when this five-piece, all-male band took the stage with a bedazzled, glam rock singer plus a couple of female backup singers and dancers that were distractingly placed right at the front and ran around fake fawning and performing terribly choreographed dances. The crowd, old/young/male/female alike, ate it up and cheered and clapped along but my black heart remained stoic to this bashing over the head. The music was as you are imagining - upbeat, keyboard-heavy, with obvious electric guitar and bass solos. Joel did have a strong singing voice even if he dressed and spoke like a posh pirate. not too far off Johnny Depp who I channelled Keith Richards, but this seemed exactly like I wrote it - an homage to an homage.

The Burning Hell - Sunflower Lounge - Nov 29, 2018

The Burning Hell played a short but thoroughly enjoyable set at the Sunflower, although I tend to feel that way about many of the bands that I cherish, especially in great venues. As only a three piece, Mathias on guitar, of course, with Ariel drumming, bass-clarineting, and singing too naturally, plus Darryn Brown on bass and mandolin. It's the songwriting that sets this bands apart however, so although it was pared down the bright side is it gave more room to the stories in the lyrics. Mathias chatted a little with the crowd, primarily urging us to give generously to Parkinson's UK for whom the evening was a fundraiser. He did reveal that he'd received many requests for the evening and despite lots of them having fallen out of their repertoire they did their best to oblige. Opening with The Stranger from 2016's Public Library, with its excellent plot twist, they also did The Things People Make, Part 2 by request, which went down well. An interesting choice was the extended story of Barbarians, even with the passage of time being sped along by Kom unwinding his first string to strum it signifying as much. It also medleyed in some Rage Against the Machine before merging directly into a cover of Dolly Parton's 9-5. To exhibit that Mathias still has it he spit Amateur Rapper with the hilarious "whip out my diction" line. Ariel also got to give us a vocal performance too by singing a solo song and then a duet with Mathias in their also-requested finale of Baby closer, Everything Will Probably Be Okay. An encore would have been nice as there's always more songs to choose from but I believe the full room was happy with all that they did get.

Nine Dart Finish were the middle openers (we missed the bottom bill band) and did a hearty job of rocking us. Three down-to-earth Birmingham blokes who were happy to be playing for us as they admitted they'd be playing in their gardens anyhow, oddly saying "naked" in unison. Mind you. they did take full advantage of the slot given them, playing at least a dozen songs rooted in rock, pop and punk without too much individualisation.

Metric - Institute 2 - Nov 17, 2018

For some reason I expected this to be upstairs in the big room at the Institute, perhaps because it had sold out so far in advance. That said, I prefer a smaller gig most times so was excited to see them in this intimate setting, having only caught them from the other main stage at Riot Fest, Toronto a few years back, that I can recall. Expecting the room to go nuts on Emily's appearance it was a polite, if subdued reaction. Speaking of her appearance, she had a blonde bob and a semi-revealing belly top on which comes into play later. Even after a few tracks the audience didn't seem to be giving them much to work off, although the setlist of primarily new stuff off the top could be at least partially to blame. Em even called it out herself in asking if we were with her and saying we were kind of just staring at them expectantly (besides this one tall dude who kept taking his ball cap off and repeatedly doffing it at her, even after she acknowledged it, to the point of her saying "yes, I see you.") Early in the set was Youth Without Youth which was alright and new tunes like Risk and Love You Back. I quite like the new album so I wasn't complaining, especially with personal highlight Dressed to Suppress. Thankfully they forgot about the bomb that was Pagans in Vegas and nearly skipped it completely (though I wouldn't have minded The Shade.) Jimmy was in fine form, taking a few solos but nothing outlandish. After Now or Never Now there was time for a little monologue from the leading lady. Things were said about being a professional, at which point she turned around, pointed at her bare lower back and joked about getting "Professionalism" tattooed across it. However, that wasn't the weirdest bit as she just kinda kept going and rambling about how when she wrote Gimme Sympathy she was about the same as now "but probably tripping and a little meaner" or something to that effect. Then she began espousing about how a concert is meant to be an escape from the real world but broke that whole vibe by complaining about the real world politics.. "and I can't even imagine what you guys must be feeling, with the future of your country and all" she rambled, at this point to audible grumbling and groans from the crowd. She took the point and got on with the song finally. Whether that diatribe woke us up or the likeability of the songs in the latter half perked up that much I can't be certain, but things definitely flowed much better. Hell, after Sick Muse not too long later, I thought they could easily walk out on a high, albeit early. However they stayed and I was glad they did with Monster Hospital and then Em grabbing a guitar for Gold, Guns, Girls though Jimmy stole the show with his work on that particular one. Coming fast and furious for the encore they did the obligatory Dark Saturday on an actual Saturday night, followed by Combat Baby that was probably the precipice for me but still jammed Dead Disco too. As a finale, with the crowd properly fired up and shouting for more, she introduced Help, I'm Alive and they tore it down to close out. Coming at this show as a cherry picking casual fan who really liked the most recent release I could have been happy by dropping all but the new tunes from the early part of the set but down the stretch and the encore they showed the power of what has gotten them to where they are, and some staying power to boot.


The opener from Vienna, whose name escape me, had some earnest singer songwriter tunes though his personality was better than his music overall. He personally handed out free download links to some B sides but I can't say I'm going to load them.