 It's
an icy Saturday night in Digbeth, but the newly
reopened HMV Institute in Birmingham's back streets
is a welcoming and cosy venue. Originally a methodist
chapel, its majestic high ceilings are the perfect
setting for a band like Athlete.
As the crowd gathers, Stoney is the first onto
the stage. Also known as Adam Stoney, he seems
relaxed and plays a laid back set of acoustic
tracks, with innovative accompaniments from a
keyboard, laptop, and loop track. It seems Andy,
his keyboardist, has a few friends in the audience,
and he's getting more attention than Stoney himself,
who takes it well, joking that he'll be on the
Merch stand at the end of the gig, while Andy's
at the pub signing autographs.
Alice Gold is up next, a hair swishing maniac
with the weirdest facial expressions you're likely
to see from a musician. Luckily, she has such
charisma and talent, not to mention a massive
voice, that she pulls it off very well; she delivers
an energetic and varied set, with a strong 60s
rock influence. At the risk of sounding like a
feminist, it's great to see a powerful frontwoman
lead a band so well; her presence reminds me of
Hayley Williams and Lily Allen, and I wouldn't
be surprised if she's one of the big acts to emerge
in 2011.
 After a long wait, the lights dim. The stage is
lit by a singe spotlight for frontman Joel Potts,
who comes out carrying a ghetto blaster as his
accompaniment for the first song of the night;
'You Got The Style'. He's greeted by a thankful
crowd and plays an acoustic rendition of the song
before the other band members join him on the
stage and launch into 'Superhuman Touch' and 'Hurricane'.
As it's the last night of the tour, Potts explains
that their tour manager has created a 'comedy
set list' for the night - for example, 'Out Of
Nowhere' has become 'Out Of Joe Where' because
one of their technicians, called Joe, was once
hit in the head at a gig by something that came
out of nowhere. The full set list is at the end
of the review: see if you can guess where the
others came from.
This is the band's tenth anniversary tour, and
although they don't look old enough to have been
around for so long, they know how to command the
stage and entertain their audience. Most of the
people here are die hard fans, and the atmosphere
is fantastic; the entire room is singing every
word of every track. The band are promoting their
recently released compilation album, 'Singles
01–10', which includes all the singles from
their ten year career, so no hit is missed off
the set list. There's a great mix, ranging from
the acoustic and raw to the more catchy and produced
tracks like 'Back Track'. Amongst the highlights
are the beautiful 'Black Swan Song', written for
Potts' grandfather after his death, the ubiquitous
'El Salvador', and 'Wires', written for Potts'
newborn daughter.
 For the last chorus of 'Wires', he asks the audience
to put down their cameraphones and enjoy the moment.
'Take a memory home in your head' he says, and
I can hear people mumbling in agreement all around
me. Once one stubborn member of the audience has
been persuaded to lower his phone, we watch and
listen as he sings the final chorus. It's something
that can't be taken home and uploaded onto Facebook
as a blurry memory, and it's all the better for
it.
We all know they're coming back for an encore,
but it doesn't stop the room stomping and clapping
for the band to return to the stage. We're treated
to 'The Getaway' and 'Half Light' before we come
to the final song of the night. The house lights
shine out onto us and everyone is on their feet
on the balcony. It's the last night of a 13 date
tour and Potts thanks everyone for their support
over the last ten years. He's emotional as he
briefly sits at the back of the stage and waits
for us to stop cheering, before he stands to deliver
the final song of the night, 'Chances'. It's a
powerful and fitting song to end on, and I don't
think a single person left the venue without a
smile and a lyric on their lips. Here's to ten
more years.
Stoney: 3/5
Alice Gold: 4/5
Athlete: 5/5
Review By Helen Williams
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