Gig Review: Broken Witt Rebels

Last Saturday (25/01/2014), I went to see Broken Witt Rebels play at Birmingham, Institute. It was all a kind of big coincidence to be honest, the band actually contacted me via Facebook just spreading the word about one of their singles and next thing I knew, I was meeting their drummer to pick up a ticket for the gig! Considering this, it's safe to say that I wasn't expecting too much from the night but here's what I got...

The first band on - Paradise Circus - played a really tight set. You could tell they were young but this didn't stop them from putting on a show. Obviously the first thing that came to mind when I found out their name, was Massive Attack, but they sounded nothing like them. They were a sort of bluesy rock band, and the lead singer's somewhat soulful voice made them stand out a lot in my opinion. They didn't really spare much time for crowd interaction or banter but the set was short and sweet all in all.

Next up were a band that I'm still confused as to why they chose the name they did - The Two 'N' Eights. BWR were obviously keeping it local with another brummy band, but like every band that played that night they definitely proved their worth. Many members of the crowd were sporting hairdos resembling Liam Gallagher's signature coiffe and after The Two 'N' Eights first few songs I could definitely see why. The lead singer (also sporting a similar hairdo) did remind me a lot of Liam himself and you could tell that Oasis had some influence on the band's sound. No complaints however, because they did manage to make it their own and some of their more devout fans yelped and cheered them on for the whole set making the atmosphere for the set hyped.

Lastly, the main event. After only hearing the single that they sent to me over Facebook - "Only I" - I still wasn't too expectant of anything but the ruckus that the entire crowd produced before they'd even started playing should've been indication enough. The crowd chanted and screamed for them as if they were about to headline Glastonbury. The whole room was shaking and the atmosphere was electric - even though they'd suffered a power cut just before they were about to start! As soon as they came in with the first song though, it was just crazy. People were jumping about, singing all the words back to them, waving and clapping with all that they had in them.

The band themselves were definitely on point and played extremely well but the crowd really made this night all that it was. Lead singer, Danny, had fantastic stage presence; accompanied by James' pitch perfect lead guitar, Anthony's thumping drums and Luke's swampy bass (and fabulous moustache). With all of these components in one, it couldn't have ended up being anything less than a quality night.

Overall Rating - 8/10


Here are some pictures from the gig...