 I’ve
been hanging around the venue now for a few hours,
and as I pick up my pass and walk down the steps
I expected the room to be wall to wall, but I
remembered it’s a Saturday in Birmingham,
and tonight’s band aren’t bringing
a room full of kids there bringing a mish mash
for tonight they are playing their biggest album
‘A Place In The Sun’ in its entirety,
as it is the albums 15 year anniversary. So the
room is a bit dry as the first band take to the
stage, but I’m sure this will change as
the night progresses.
 Electric
Rive are a punk rock and roll band from Ashford,
Kent and they kick things off with a bang. Their
electric guitar jams sound amazing, as they blast
complicated and well worked riffs around, the
venue as it slows fills up. This band sound like
they could be a stadium band very easily, with
a lovely crisp sound with gritty vocals and plodding
powerful drums. When they walked out I wasn't
sure what I was going to get along with them,
but this four piece are wicked, they change the
pace throughout, seemingly getting faster as there
set progresses, as at one point we had fast punk
rhythms and heavy metal style guitar solos that
mix so well. They set the night off on a great
start and I hope they go on to bigger and better
things!
 Blame
are not quite as brash as Electric River, with
a more relaxed style as they're in the same vein,
with rock n roll punk but with a more, grunge
edge. This 4 piece are from Uttoxeter, Staffordshire
and they have been around for only a few years,
but have already supported bands like Everclear.
Throughout their set they stay relatively static,
not moving about the stage too much, but it doesn’t
matter as they pull of some nice songs. Unfortunately
the vocals are not on par as the high notes seem
to go out of touch in parts, but singer Sam Johnson
apologises and says it’s down to his  throat
being soar, which means this is just the one drawback
of touring and partying hard with a legendary
band like Lit. They give it a great shot and sound
progressively more alive towards the end of the
set with the highlight for me being a dedication
to Kurt Cobain with a cover of Molly’s Lips
which Nirvana famously covered. I'm sure this
is an off day in regards to Sam’s voice
so I hope to catch them again in future and see
the full power of Blame, they end to big applause
and seem like nice people as they invite the crowd
to come and talk to them and let them know what
people thought of them.
 Lit
need no introduction, but in case you don’t
know Lit are a pop punk band from sunny Orange
County California, they’ve been rocking
out since 1988 and are here to play their biggest
album in full, an album that took me through my
late teens and on throughout my twenties, an album
that sounds great all the way through and has
a mixture of styles from ballads to grunge rock,
it’s an amazing album and even before Lit
get on stage I’m more excited than I have
been at a gig in a long while. So it’s no
surprise that they come out to huge screams and
cheers from this now heaving venue,  with
people of all ages getting as close to the stage
as they can to get a glimpse of this awe inspiring
band. They come out to a pre-recorded medley of
different tracks, sounding like a radio tuning
in through the ages, and as everyone is on the
stage, singer AJ Popoff does his best HHH impression
and spits a mist of water upwards as the band
jump into heavy riffed track Four, before going
into possibly their biggest hit straight away,
My Own Worst Enemy, which gets the room pumping,
everyone and I mean everyone is singing along,
the crowd is going berserk as people crowd surf
like wild, causing someone to land on the odd
photographer in the photo pit, as this anthem
for the late 90’s takes people back 15 years,
the song comes to a close and the band look hyped
and ready for more as they continue  with
Down, and then into the more ballady track Miserable,
which gets everyone doing the famous intro of
“You Make Me Come, You Make Me Complete,
You Make Me Completely Miserable”, they
continue with No Big Thing and then during this
track I’m taking in the awesomeness of Lit
on stage as I pack my camera away, only to be
signalled towards the end of the song by Bassist
Kevin Baldes, who when he’s not rocking
out with Lit is a photographer, he beckons me
to come to the side of stage and then quickly
tells me I can shoot from the back of the stage
for the rest of the show which for me is a dream
come true, to be stud on the stage whilst one
of my favourite bands is playing is something
special and then they go into the next track the
 poppy
and riffy track Zip-Lock. Lit are sounding awesome,
the bass and guitars are coming over great with
singer A Jays vocals sounding as good as they
do on cd and now they’ve also got the addition
of an extra guitarist which makes the sound allot
more fuller and the riffs allot more chunky which
all makes for a more rocking gig, the drums are
also fast and fluid setting the pace for each
and every anthem. They continue with Lovely Day,
Perfect One, Quicksand and Happy and I’m
impressed that no-one has decided to leave, as
I know how people can be, they here they’re
favourite songs and then go, “I’ve
had enough now” and head for the door, but
 not
tonight, tonight people are glued to the floor,
they’re watching in awe as Lit are playing
and having fun on stage. They take the sound down
a little and play the slowest song on the album
in The Best Is Yet To Come Undone, which has this
crazy crowd swaying from side to side. Finally
they end with A Place In The Sun, and then leave
the stage to massive cheers and whoops, then there’s
silence, as this crowd don’t know whether
that’s it, or whether there’s more
to come, the band has played for 45 minutes which
is about what most headliners do in this venue,
and with that thought process the band come back
out, and talk to the crowd for a while. They do
the normal thanks for coming and for the support
over the years, and explain how through many things
happening they’ve not really been able to
come back to the UK in about 10 years, and they
promise to be back soon, maybe with even with
fellow Orange County punks Zebrahead on a co-headline
tour. They then go on to thank the fans who came
out and saw them last year at Download and the
London Koko show and then go on to play more songs
from they’re other 4 albums, kicking off
with Too Fast for a U-turn, You Tonight, The Broken
and Over My Head. They then take a moment  to
thank their dead and departed former drummer Allen
Shellenberger who passed away from a brain tumour
almost five years ago, before dedicating the next
track to him a lovely sweet slow song from the
album Atomic called, Happy in the Meantime. They
then kick things back into gear with Lipstick
and Bruises before Kevin takes a moment to tell
the crowd about a guy who he met before the show,
who said he was coming to the gig and could he
get an autograph, to which Kevin replied, “do
you have a car?” the guy said “yeah
why” to which Kevin said, “can you
drive me around so I can take some photos of Birmingham”
to which the fan was delighted, he said “no
problem” and thanks to that the band let
him in early for sound check along with giving
him some drinks and signing his things, which
is a really awesome thing that I’m sure
most bands wouldn’t do. As Kevin finish’s
his story A Jay tells the crowd how they’re
going to play a track that hasn’t been played
before live and how they’re excited to play
it, to which the audience goes crazy shouting
Same Shit, Different Drink over and over, to which
Lit reply, “wow we were going to play the
wall, I mean we could give it a try but don’t
get mad if we sound shit.” They then play
Same Shit Different Drink in full which goes down
a storm, and it’s great to see  that
even the new songs have a place in people’s
hearts, they then say stuff it and play The Wall
anyway, before ending the night with Something
to Someone which closes this epic almost hour
and a half set in style. The crowd walk away happy
and the band leave the stage grinning from ear
to ear.
Tonight has been awesome, from the two great support
bands to the amazing Lit who played an extra two
songs in Birmingham which they didn’t play
anywhere else on this tour, who looked like they
were having an amazing time and who sounded phenomenal.
This was a gig I wanted to be good, and I’m
so glad it was even better, it’ll take allot
for a band to top this in future, and who knows
it could be Lit if they keep their promise and
come back soon!
Electric River – 3.5/5
Blame - 3/5
Lit - 5/5
Review By James Daly
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