Behind the music - Levi's (No-)One To Watch tour

Firstly, apologies to any subscribers who got hit with the backlog of reviews. I’ve finished upping them now. So, on Thursday I went to the Barfly to review Ox.Eagle.Lion.Man, Cazals and Cut Off Your Hands for Birmingham Live.  I’d heard of all three but couldn’

Cut Off your Hands, Cazals, Ox.Eagle.Lion.Man @ Birmingham Barfly 22/02/08

When you go to a gig you expect the loud music and the press of bodies to keep you nice and warm but last night it was even colder inside the Barfly than it was outside. In a city the size of Birmingham, for barely 40 people to make it

Coming soon...

Ok, before I go and get busy, I mentioned in may last (first) post that I’ve got quite a full couple of weeks coming up.  I’m just going to run through what I’ve got on my plate. On the gigs front, I’ve got the review of

Tap tap. Is this thing on?

Hi there, welcome to my blog. Having reviewed gigs around Birmingham for the past couple of years I thought it’d be a good idea to have somewhere to deposit all the good stuff I’ve been churning out.  I’m also planning to use this as somewhere to jot

Gallows @ Birmingham Academy, 16/02/08

Frank Carter can rail all he likes against fans making idols of bands but if he’s a subject of adulation it’s no doubt a result of his thrillingly visceral and menacingly charismatic performances. If there’s a single reason why Gallows have been embraced (if a little cautiously)

Los Campesinos @ Birmingham Academy 2, 13/02/08

The show ended as it started – from ‘Broken Heartbeats Sound Like Breakbeats’ with it’s shouty count-in to the final unaccompanied, shouted chorus of ‘Sweet Dreams, Sweet Cheeks’. It set the tone for the whole of the show quite succinctly too, with all seven members involved at high volume in

NME Tour - Birmingham Academy, 6/02/08

In past years getting tickets for the annual NME tour was a case of hammering the phone lines as soon as they opened. Tickets sold fast and with good reason – some timely booking secured acts such as Franz Ferdinand, The Killers, Arctic Monkeys, Kaiser Chiefs and Maximo Park when they

Palladium/Alphabeat @ Bar Academy, 2/02/08

“We’re Alphabeat and we play pop!” Yes, they sure do! Alphabeat are a pop band who are in the habit of stating the obvious. Six fresh-faced, energetic Danes who do exactly what they say they do. There’s no angst, subtle subtexts or navel-gazing, just honest to goodness, perky

Air/Au Revoir Simone @ Birmingham Academy, 14/11/07

I missed Au Revoir Simone when I went to see We Are Scientists a while back and kicked myself for it. If you’ve not come across their floaty-light ethereal pop tunes, and if that description even half interests you, then I’d urge you to pick up one of

Good Shoes/Lightspeed Champion - Birmingham Academy 2, 11/11/07

Musical taste is a strange and wonderful creature. Not content to divide bands between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ there’s an annoying subset I call ‘good on paper but you’d rather not actually listen to them, y’know?’. Catchy, isn’t it? These ones tick all the right boxes and