 well the night got off to a flier, by having a
venue change, to the shitty bar academy, tiny
it is, an also no real pit to speak of, but i
got in between the stage an barrier so i was stuck
in one spot all night,(this can lead to numb bum,
not fun i can tell you), the venue change maybe
a sign of the times, people just not going to
gigs much these days, the small venue was fairly
full but it certainly had room to spare and was
not a sell out like it should have been.
First up were VersaEmerge a five pice experimental
post hardcore rock band, from the us playing on
a tour for the first time out of the US, A fairly
young band with lots to prove and some what similar
to paramore being female fronted an a poppy
song every now an then, they get the crowd warmed
up quite nicely, with some of the crowd familiar
with the band already and singing along, a good
start to the night, altho not really memorable
but there defiantly going in the right direction.
 Lights were next up with there own brand of synth
pop, seems to be the in thing at the moment, but
good non the less, the singer with her keytar,
which is some thing you don't see every day, and
also get on her own keyboard an moog, along with
other members of her touring band including another
guy rocking out on his moog an keyboard and a
drummer, he sat out of some of the songs due him
not being needed i guess, the performance while
dreamy to some was dreary to others, but again
having some fans in the crowd always helps, solid
performance but again not memorable
Whole Wheat Bread are a punk rock band from the
US, heavy on the beats and guitar getting some
solid songs going, mid set the drummer comes from
behind the drums to join the front man for some
out an out freestyle rapping using pretty much
every expletive known to man an possibly hitting
on a few off the front row ladies in the crowd
tonight, one the drummer finds his seat again,
the front man from GBH makes an appearance to
get on the shard vocals for a RATM cover which
starts life off as slayers raining blood getting
me head banging, i wished they'd have carried
on but instead bulls on parade starts getting
the crowd going and rocking out too. never saw
this before but this band actually came back on
for an encore, not bad for a support band that
has left its mark on this Birmingham crowd.
 In This Moment are the head liners of sorts really,
never heard of the band before and didn't know
what to expect really, last thing i expected was
another female singer making her the 3rd of the
night i also didn't expect a skirt that short
either, but who's complaining??? Kicking off with
prayers getting the crowd very excitable with
the band pretty much rocking out as hard as they
can, really getting around this small stage in
this tiny venue, defiantly a band that should
command a bigger stage for there melodic metal
core sound, could have done with the vocals being
louder though, the band changed the instrument
a number of times for different tuning settings,
the crowd was pretty much there for them this
evening, even though this was the bands first
time in the UK trying our crisps roast chicken
a favorite apparently, the band finishes the set
with Beautiful Tragedy as there encore much to
the delight of the crowd, most of which has had
a very good night after coming in from the April
showers.
VersaEmerge 3/5
Lights 3/5
Whole Wheat Bread 5/5
In This Moment 5/5
Review By Robert Lawrence |
