It’s a cold dry night here in Birmingham
and so I'm glad there is no queue to get inside
the nice warm Academy 3. I arrive at the venue
before Broadway Calls take to the stage, only
to find that the room is less than half empty,
now I've been in this room once before and that
was for My Passion a year ago, and you could not
move for people! It was wall to wall with bodies
and I expected more of that tonight!
Broadway Calls or Calling Broadway as it said
on the venues stage times, take to the stage and
burst into a set of punk rock, it's very fast
it's very loud and its fun! The Oregon 3 piece
don’t really talk to the audience but it
doesn't matter, as I'm sure they can come and
talk to everyone individually later as it wouldn't
take them to long! They blast through a half hour
set of rocky tunes with simple heavy riffs and
nice harmonies, the drums are thumping and the
sound is raw. This is right up my street and the
vocals are very similar to Less Than Jake which
puts a smile on my face. Myself and the rest of
this small audience enjoy their set which hardly
leaves you time to relax in between songs.
 The Swellers, who in case you don’t know,
are a 4 piece punk rock band from Flint, Michigan.
They come out on stage and get everyone to come
forward, the once sparse room now turns into a
hectic front of room party full of moshing and
dancing! Singer Nick Diener tells the crowd why
he loves England, "short drives, babe-a-licious
babes, handsome dudes, and the weather sucks,
but in different ways". He also comments
of how great the crowd are tonight “in America
people sing along but don't know the words, it's
like they’re eating water melons, but here
you know them all! Thank you”. The band
kick into my personal favourite, Fire Away, the
sound is really loud, deafening even, but the
band comes across clearly. The bass flows freely
and the guitar runs smooth into these punky tunes
with a bit of pop drilled in.
This is their first proper headline tour, and
I thought with endorsements from bands such as
Paramore and Motion City Soundtrack people would
be flocking, their videos are always on Kerrang
and they've supported bands over here quite heavily
in the last year.  They’re also on Pet Wentz’s
label “Fueled by Ramen” and yet there
playing to a half full Academy 3 and not to a
full Academy 2! I mean, I know allot of people
say how they remember seeing huge bands in small
venues, but those venues are small and a full,
they’re not half full.
This is a band who are jumpy and pumped full of
energy, they’re really good fun, if more
people where at this gig, it would have been awesome
but the atmosphere just isn't there, people don’
t fully let themselves go if people might be watching
them. So next time around get your arses down
and see this great band, that is keeping punk
flowing through to the next stage! I have no doubt
that this band will be huge, so don’t miss
out on seeing them rise to fame!
Broadway Calls – 3/5
The Swellers – 4/5
Review By James Daly
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