SUM
41 When veteran ska support act ‘The Mighty Mighty Bosstones’ introduce Sum 41’s singer Deryck as their son who likes punk rock a lot, the analogy seems to be spot on. Sum 41, the bastard sons of Green Day and Rancid played their biggest ever headlining gig at Wembley Arena this Saturday to a packed auditorium of ageing punks and eight year old skateboarders with their mums and dads in tow. Playing a variety of their songs spanning three albums of polished punk pop, Sum 41 jumped and spat and shouted obscenities along with the predominantly teenage crowd. Culminating in high points of ‘In too deep’ and recent singles ‘The Hell Song’, and “Still Waiting’ the Canadian critters handled the large venue well, with tight guitars and sing-a-long slices of angst ridden anthems. The
irony of a punk rock concert in a venue where drinking and smoking are
not allowed was not wasted on this punter, however Sum 41 did give it
their all and their clean-living crowd did seem to love them for it.
Whether the band have anything new to say as far as rock music is concerned
remains to be seen but maybe that doesn’t matter because as their
demon-strewn back-drop declared ‘Sum like it loud’. Lorien
Live Lorien played Birmingham's Academy 2 last Wednesday. For a little known band they performed with a high level of professionalism. Performing tracks from their recent album "Under the Waves"the band from start grabbed hold of the 300 plus crowd and took them on a journey through perfectly crafted songs. Lorien are an odd looking bunch ranging from a pony tailed lead singer in a dad jumper to a rather tall base player in a even taller green hat that made him look like a reject from the garden gnome society. The album is sheer class and will become a classic that will be become the first of many for them. There live performance shows maturity but they have yet to offer a rapour with the audience which will come with time and experience. On the whole a good performance, and it shouldn't belong before they are the main attraction. The headline act in this instance were The Electric Soft Parade who were 12 months ago like Lorien but are now experienced live performers. Interacting with the audience they were not afraid to take the piss out of themselves and the fans. They performed a blistering set which included a brilliant version of the australian sex midget Kylie's smash " Can't get you outta' my head" and a electronic jammin' session to round things off. To sum up, a bloody good night.
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Support band the
Zutons were outstanding. Although comparisons with the Coral
McAlmont & Butler LIVE These two, who have been going for years return to the intimate surroundings of Birmingham's Academy 2 to promo their latest album. It was a superb night as the duo rolled through the best bits of their current album plus favorites from their previous releases. Bernard was his usual restrained self playing lead guitar and David was smooth slick and funny used is full vocal range to cheers from the crowd. They did a cover of Take That's "Back for Good" which I have to say was better than the original. These two are a class act and are well worth the entrance fee. Ben Kweller LIVE Ben Kweller was the support for Mull Historical Society at their recent gig at the Birmingham Academy. It was a successful showcase for the band. They performed tracks from the eagerly awaited "EP Phone Home". The songs were well performed and we received by the crowd. The band were however hampered some what by the poor mixing at the venue. BK have a interesting sound jumping from winsome ballads to good solid rock. A very good performance by this new band and an excellent choice as support for the superb Mull.
Paul
Weller Paul Weller made an inconspicuous arrival on stage at Birmingham's NEC Arena on Saturday night at 8.30pm which is quite unusual these days as this performance ran for 2 1/4 hours. The set was simple with an array of psychedelic lighting effects and imagery. Paul backed by two members of local band Ocean Colour Scene performed with great ease songs from the new Album "It's Written in the Stars". The gig wasn't confined to the new album but was interspersed with tracks from the Stanley Road Album, The Style Council era. There was a brilliant acoustic moment from the Modfarther which featured a couple of tracks from the new album and finished with "That's Entertainment". The fans were singing and dancing one minute then swaying the next. Then without warning BANG! we were hit with the Jam classic "Town called Malice" and the crowd went wild. Paul Weller is a master craftsman when it comes to performing, he's not a showman just a man who loves playing rock music and the whole performance reflected that, especially when the drummer was given centre stage while Paul took an on stage fag break. To some up, a class performance from class performer. |
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Moby@Birmingham Academy - 20/11/02
Many may have been surprised at the vibrancy of the set especially if your 'Moby' listening is based on the soft melancholic melodies of the'Play' album and the occasional car ad. A strenuous and punchy set was unleashed and the fans were treated to a musical feast. This well rehearsed set was flawless, melodic, thunderous and bursting with energy. The bass literally shook the Academy and Moby brought warmth to this cold November night with songs now familiar to many. "We're all made of stars" and "Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad" went down partsicularly well. Variety was the gobsmacking feature of this gig. Musically, the set powered through blues, rock, punk, trance and electronica, all blended to perfection. And just to add the cherries on top there was virtuoso performances by Diane Charlemange on vocals and "bass goddess" greta brinkman. Moby v dj rj was a bit of a laugh. The finale included
some covers including Ozzy's "Paranoid" (well… why not
do a song from a local lad) and Radiohead's "Creep" which
was faultless. ---- this gig was had the lot.
My Vitriol LIVE Boy that was loud!!!, My Vitriol performed at the Birmingham Academy supporting Wilt on their UK Tour. Why this band keep touring as a support and playing second fiddle to bands that are at the same level in the success ladder as themselves is beyond me. My Vitriol did a stunning support set, racing through their fans favorite songs including "Always Your Way", "Grounded" and "Tongue Tied". The crowd really got into the band in Birmingham and were disappointed when there set came to an end. If you are looking for a good loud quality live band, My Vitriol fit the specification perfectly, hopefully they will tour on their own and we can get to hear more of their songs live
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reviewed4u.com Mull
Historical Socity It was an intimate gig with a couple of hundred or so fans in attendance. Colin came on stage to huge applause and proceeded to run through most of the tracks from both albums. The vocals were spot on, as was the bands performance. Colin was quiet all the way through, calm and composed and just getting on with the job in hand. After the usual break Colin returned to the stage on his own to do a few acoustic tracks. After that the band returned to blast through "Watching Xanadu". The gig ended with a thumping rendition of "Mull Historical Society" which prompted Colin obviously high on the excitement of the night to surf over the crowd. Mull Historical Society are a polished act both recorded and live and well worth going to see.
Kicked off with
5 different support acts including Then followed an
hour and 20 mins gap where nothing happened, rumours flew Overall very entertaining,
they never stopped from start to finish, and played
Papa Roach LIVE @ Birmingham Academy Ear plugs at the ready, Papa Roach are in town, or rather were on Wednesday 6th November. The band that have shifted over 2 million albums in the US alone took to the stage and proceeded to blast their way through some of their finest work. Frontman Coby Dick led the band on their musically violent journey. There performance was flawless and thrilled the what can only be described as mental crowd from start to finish. I'm not a metal fan on the whole but this band are certainly better than their rivals like Limp Bizkit when it comes to live performance. Well worth going to see them.
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The Shining LIVE To use a corny phrase "The Shining shone" at the recent performance at the now legendry Birmingham Academy 2. The concert seemed to be a promo for their latest album which was fine with me. I
heard the album a couple of weeks ago and was blown away by the quality
of the songs and their performance, and I felt the same about their
live performance. the band worked the small audience well and their
performance was very slick. The whole concert was well mixed which these
days is a rarity. To sum up a good live band waiting to shine. |
