Well
tonight is a cold night in Birmingham, the winter
cold is upon us and it’s only going to get
worse from here on in, so what do we have in store
to warm those frosty body’s, well in the
main academy is indie rockers The Editors, who
are great in their own way, but they’re
not really the type of band that would get you
dancing, so we head to the academy 2 for some
gold old English Ska Punk in the form of Tewkesbury’s
finest Spunge.
Slagerij
are first to take to the stage, this 3 piece Ska
Punk band from Swindon do well to get the cold
crowd warmed up, they play funky catchy rhythms
which go from reggae esc to fast shouty punk all
in the same song. They take over the front of
the stage and get the still arriving crowd to
move in close and dance and sing along with them,
which is great work for a first support act. They
play loud, so loud in fact that the bass rumbles
through your throat making you feel every part
of the song. They play a short set with Can’t
Stop A Nation rounding everything up. Slagerij
give a good start to the night let’s hope
that the next band can continue the energy.
Hey You Guys are a band who are different to the
most, they’re a relatively new band who
have been going for just over a year and who hail
from Worcester (like the sauce). They’re
a punk rock band that has lyrical rants and raves
over the top of the beats, which then mixes into
vocal harmonies and group shouty choruses. Now
I apologise if that makes them sound bad, but
believe me they’re not, they’re amazing.
It takes a few songs to get into the uniqueness
but once you’re in, you’re hooked
and they’re
not going to let you go. The 4 piece are all in
shirts and are led by front man Pete Adams who
leads the crowd into their chaotic world. The
band are all kitted out with 1950’s style
microphones that give crisp clear vocals and this
carry’s well over to the crowd, they kick
things off with the title track from their album
Gasp Shock Horror and then call Spunge to the
stage to help them play Earth 616 which has the
killer chorus “Oh My God There Goes My Heroes”
which gets the crowd fired up and dancing around,
after this, Adams comes into the crowd to get
more on level and shares out his bucket of sweets
before clambering back up and continuing their
set. They play a fast and loud set of
great songs including their latest single, the
amazing Do Not Resuscitate: Make Me Robocop, where
they sing about wanting to save the world from
crime as a robot, it’s this kind of madness
and humour which sets Hey You Guys apart from
the rest and I’d thoroughly recommend them.
Spunge enter the stage to an almost packed out
room, this 4 piece have almost been going for
20 years and are showing no signs of stopping,
they walk out to huge cheers and say hello before
jumping into a greatest hits set list of all they’re
classic songs starting with Lyrical Content. They
sound great over the academy 2’s some times
temperamental pa system, blasting out the clean
guitar rhythms and plodding bass lines, topped
off with some top class fast paced drumming and
lead singer Alex Copeland’s gravely up-tempo
tones. They
bounce around the stage having a great time and
the audience sings and skanks along, they go into
Roots and Backstabber before getting the crowd
almost exploding at an early point in the set
with Skanking Song. The audience is loving every
minute and it’s clear that them going back
and redoing the songs and making a greatest hits
was a great idea. The album itself was a pledge
music campaign where the fans chose the songs
and it’s clear with tonight’s crowd
that it was the right thing to do as they’re
loving every second. Spunge take some time between
songs to have a chat and catch their breath thanking
the crowd for all the support and making sure
they put everything in to this last night of the
tour to make it a great one. They continue with
Old classics
Ego and No Woman No Cry which has been changed
to feature a little of The Police’s So Lonely
which makes it a great tribute to reggae acts
of the past. Jump On Demand is next which gets
the floor bouncing and drinks go flying as people
jump around, making the floor almost uncontrollably
slippy, it’s amazing no-one hurts themselves
but the band bring out a slow sing along classic
to calm the mood with Angel With A Pint Glass,
this gives Spunge a chance to breath before going
into Friend Called Fred, Some Suck Some Rock and
the greatest hit of them all Kicking Pigeons,
which sees the stage get enveloped with members
of Hey You Guys along with friends and family
as the room erupts into a frenzy of emotions with
everyone dancing and singing like crazy. The stage
clears and what normally would be the end of their
set in recent
years continues with the band knowing that if
they don’t play the song early they’re
going to get idiots shouting play Kicking Pigeons
which ruins the atmosphere, so they continue with
Live another Day and Change Of Scene before ending
with the amazing cover of Centrefold which Alex
gets the crowd chanting the Nah Nah Nah Nah Nah
Nahs before the band start to play. They end on
a high with a bass guitar going flying onto the
floor and massive cheers. Spunge don’t like
to do encoures but seeing as it’s the last
night on the tour they come back on stage and
play a song that didn’t make it on the album
but is still awesome, Nothing At All which gives
them time to say thank you to everyone who helped
them make the album and who came out to the tour
before bowing out and coming to meet the fans
who have supported them.
Tonights
gig was awesome show, it had two great supports
and a main act who are top of their game, they
know how the songs go and they know how to get
a crowd pumped, they’re still playing fun
fresh music and are showing that you can’t
stop a good thing. So if it’s been a while
since you’ve seen or heard Spunge, or if
you’ve never heard of them yet like some
ska punk, then go and check out their greatest
hits and keep an eye out next year for another
tour some festivals and maybe even a new album
of new songs!
Slagerij 3.5/5
Hey You Guys 4/5
Spunge 5/5
Review By James Daly
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