On the 18th of April I went to O2 Academy 3 in Birmingham to catch PVRIS' sold out headline show. I wrote about them as a new discovery a couple of years ago here and now they're finally and deservedly blowing up.

First up on the bill was Twin Wild. I'd not heard of this band before the night but I've remembered the name every day since. They really caught my attention. The lead singer's vocals were great and their sons were very catchy. Although I did feel at the time that their set had been the perfect length for them, I would love to see them again live at their own headline show.

Next, Light You Up. I've been keeping up with this band for just over a year now and in that time their fame has just gone from zero to one hundred, just like PVRIS to be honest. I didn't really know what to expect in terms of their live stage presence, all I had to go by was their behaviour in the "All We've Ever Known" video. They absolutely killed it though! Tom is just pure energy! Even from before the set started, Tom was getting juiced up during sound-check. The perfect set to get the crowd ready for the main event.When Tom jumped into the crowd and started singing with and talking to the fans, I'm sure that they gained some new fans in that moment.

Finally, after some unexpected but enjoyable tunes during the interval, PVRIS. That electricity you feel when a band that you love steps on stage. That will never get old. But I swear, that electricity was x100 when Lynn came on - she has a crazy amount of presence. Playing such a small venue off the back of their debut album, I was hoping that they'd play the album in it's entirety. When they started off with "Smoke" followed by "St. Patrick", I must admit that I was hopeful. Even though they didn't play "Let Them In" I was far too caught up in the euphoria to even let it phase me. Everything just sounded so much better live than I'd imagined. The crowd's voices covering the sound of the band even at times! Especially during the album singles - "My House" was frenetic. Everybody knew it was coming but nobody was ready. That is such a huge hit!! As musicians each of them are very multi-talented, well as expected I suppose - it's hard for a three piece band to make such a huge sound, but they did it! And did it very well. Everyone was buzzing after the show - Lynn even tweeting "Birmingham! We all just unanimously agreed that tonight may have been our favorite show ever. Thank you so much!!!" Big show, if you haven't already checked PVRIS out, don't waste any more time.

Overall Rating - 7.5/10


Here are some pictures from the night... 

First gig review of the new year and it's for a relatively new discovery! I hadn't really heard anything about The Weeks until early January but after checking out their track "Buttons", I knew I had to check them out...

Supporting The Weeks were regular tour buddies and fellow Tennessee natives  - The Apache Relay. I had never heard this band's name before the night so I was especially intrigued. The songs that they played from their latest self titled record sounded BIG! I was particularly impressed with their song "Good As Gold". I would definitely suggesting getting your hands on this album in fact because after listening to it on Spotify, I'm convinced that this genre is going to start getting some more recognition in the UK soon. It surprised me that as many great musicians as we have just walking around these days I'm still always excited and impressed when I see great musicians perform together. They played a very sound set. The instrumental on their last song was awesome - it kind of reminded me of a fuller sounding Best Coast vibe. Calm music played powerfully - brilliant.

Next up, The Weeks. One of the first things I notice throughout the set was just how layered their songs sounded. With almost all of them there were lots of subtle influences and changes that really made each song sound thick and robust. This was also obviously helped along by a good set of lyrics. As I'd only managed to listen to their album Comeback Cadillac before coming to the show, there were quite a few songs that they played that I hadn't heard of prior. This didn't lessen the enjoyment though. In fact, a lot of the songs that I enjoyed most were songs from their upcoming record that none of the crowd had yet heard, so I'll definitely be keeping them on my radar to hear the studio versions in the future. One song that really stood out to me live though was "Heard It All". People often refer to music/live music as a "religious experience" and in this instance they really did take me to church. The organ/piano meshed with the bass in particular just made me feel like I was at a church worship service. Great vibes!

Their lead singer Cyle's voice sounded very similar to Caleb Followill's (lead singer of Kings Of Leon). I later found out that The Weeks have actually even supported them on tour before. But the point is; it would have been easy for them to fall into the hole of "KOL tribute band" but they nicely avoided it and brought their own unique talents to the table. Both The Apache Relay and The Weeks just got better and better as their sets went on and both bands were genuinely easy-going, nice guys. Another two great bands to add to the iTunes...

Overall Rating - 7/10


Here are some pictures from the night...

Last week I went to see Jamie T put Birmingham at a stand still and I was excited to say the least. However, finding out just hours before that Slaves had to cancel their support because of illness was horrible because I was really looking forward to seeing them. After hearing so much about them and listening to their single "Hey" I had my heart set on seeing them live to satisfy the curiousity. Either way, I just assumed that since it was quite last minute there wouldn't be a replacement, plus in my mind, who on earth would replace Slaves...?

When Superfood stepped out on stage I was ecstatic. Even though I'd already seen them headline before here, I couldn't have thought of a better band to stand in for Slaves. They absolutely smashed it!! It was such a good set that when they finished the crowd was even chanting "WE WANT MORE!" as they left the stage. The support act! Their set went from 0 to 100 in about 15 minutes. The few of us that knew who they were from the beginning could be heard singing their songs and seen bobbing their heads but by the last song, everyone was dancing, there was even a pretty big pit. To come on as the support act and not even the main one, the replacement support act and make that much of an impression. Now that's what I call making an entrance. BIG! Superfood are smashing it right now and this gig certainly added a few to their fan base.

After that fantastic start, Jamie T was going to have to do something pretty big to show us why he was the headliner! As soon as he stepped on, I remembered why. The crowd went bonkers at the mere presence of him! When he opened up with "Limits Lie" as the first note rang out, shouts could be heard in recognition and excitement and before I knew it I was being thrown about like a rag doll as fans leapt around to the song. One guy was so excited (and probably drunk) that he even puked and was escorted out of the crowd before the first song. Jamie knocked out hit after hit after hit. Songs across all three albums and die hard fans knew every lyric! However, the response to his more well known songs was frenetic. He probably didn't have to sing any of the words, heck, he didn't even have to be there! The audience was just so caught up in the moment and emotion that they were screaming the lyrics on autopilot, crowd surfers were emerging and wild pits were opening up left, right and centre. Nothing like mob mentality to get the adrenaline pumping. Ending the main set with "If You Got The Money" then coming back on to play four more songs and end it with "Sticks 'N' Stones" - the crowd didn't even know what to do with themselves! I can't remember the last time I was that sweaty leaving a show. I don't know what hold he had on the crowd but each of them would've done whatever he wanted that night. Jamie T is a song wizard.

Overall Rating - 8.5/10


Here are some pictures from the night...

On Tuesday (11/02/14) - the actual anniversary of Holy Fire - and friend of mine and I went to see Foals at O2 Academy, Birmingham. I knew it would be good but I'm not sure that I was ready for what it actually was...

The first band on, surprisingly wasn't Cage The Elephant as I was expecting, but an instrumental noise rock duo - That F***ing Tank. I'm pretty sure that this was a surprise to most of the crowd because when the guitarist and drummer stepped on stage and started hammering away at their instruments most of the crowd looked around to see if anyone else knew what was going on. Nonetheless, they came with some (slightly heavier) nice riffs but it did drag a little bit as not one word was spoken to sort of break up the instrumentals.

Next up though was actually Cage The Elephant. Now I've heard a lot of their stuff to date and have actually listened to their more recent record Melophobia a few times, but aside from songs like "Shake Me Down", "Come A Little Closer" and "Black Widow" nothing really made me lose my mind over them. Safe to say, I was definitely expecting quite a mellow set - I was so unbelievably wrong. They are 10 times better live than on record. I'm pretty sure the moshing started before a word was sung. Before I knew it I was being lifted off my feet and was holding Matt Shultz sweaty body above my head in the crowd. For that short 30-45 minutes it could've actually been Cage The Elephant's gig. They owned the place, and when those three songs were played, as expected, people went crazy. Pits were formed and crowds were surfed. The best way to warm up the crowd for what was to come.

After all that commotion - Foals. As soon as the lights dimmed and their intro music started playing the crowd was galvanised. They opened with "Prelude" and even though I knew that they would, I'm pretty sure I'd already lost my mind by this point. Everything is just coming back to me in flashes - this whole night just did something to me, I was definitely not aware of or responsible for my actions. They went through tune after tune, with songs like "Hummer", "My Number", "Milk & Black Spiders" and "Blue Blood" the crowd eating out of the palm of their hand the whole time. I was thrown to and from every corner of the room and still screaming lyrics and leaping about. Then they slowed things down a bit with "Spanish Sahara" and "Late Night". I'm not entirely sure what I was doing during "Late Night" if I'm honest but Yannis' solo was fantastic and the crowd didn't tire easily as everyone bellowed "STAAAAAAAAAAY WITH ME" with Yannis throughout the song.

Towards the end, the set fell into a pit of sweaty savagery with songs like "Providence" and "Inhaler". During "Providence", we were all animals if I'm honest. By this point I'd already been elbowed in the face, my piercing was bleeding and I was absolutely battered but somehow I still wanted more - everyone was completely bloodthirsty. Then Yannis said the words... "ARE YOU READY BIRMINGHAM?!" everyone knew what was coming. Before long, I was pushing people about in a floor-wide pit whilst grown men (and inevitably the population of 12 year olds) screamed "SPAAAAAACE!" back at the band. When they'd gone off before the encore the crowd unexpectedly started chanting "UN PEU, D'AIR SUR LA TERRE" - of course I joined in, all the while thinking "they'll never play 'The French Open' but may as well sing along". The band came back on.... and they played "The French Open". I was shocked but of course ecstatic. We shouted through the song happily before Yannis announced the last song - "Two Steps Twice". A myriad of chaos descended and I loved every second of it. Yannis attempted to jump from the balcony but was literally caught mid air and dragged back over the balcony by security (kill-joys). This didn't dampen the vibe for too long though, they just turned it up a notch and tore the place up as the set came to an abrupt end.

All in all, an absolute corker of a night and to think, exactly a year ago my friends and I met them at a tiny album launch in Rough Trade (here). Madness.

Overall Rating - 9.5/10


Here are some pictures from the night...