Birmingham The Crossing 19/4/19 Review

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Birmingham The Crossing 19/4/19 Review

Postby woosiep » Tue Apr 23, 2019 8:47 am

This was a bit of an in-between festival/warm up show and the first gig of the year. Probably a bit early to expect any new material (there wasn’t any) and it felt like a shake the cobwebs off return to live work. Probably due to Phil’s teaching commitments, shows tend to be in school holidays nowadays and this one was all the better for it. Being Good Friday there was no mad dash from work/drop kids off etc and with the sunny weather Im sure lots of us had enjoyed some pre gig refreshment in Birmingham. Whatever the reason, the crowd was certainly up for it. I know Birmingham gigs have been a bit problematic in the past ( The gig round the corner at the Institute on the MOJ tour was a bit lacklustre audience wise.)

Not so tonight though! The venue had a whiff of Municipal Leisure Centre about it despite the drapes and black paint. However, it was a decent size with plenty of room on a fairly big stage. The venue was completely full for start of BSP. Support was not in fact Beth Jeans Houghton’s Du Blonde which was a shame. Instead there was Callum Easter. A rather gruff one man blues folk accordionist with tape loops. To be honest I could have done with a little less accordion and a few more tape loops. It was a bit one dimensional. Not sure if we was upset with the crowd or not be he sort of stomped off at the end .

BSP started with Machineries of Joy- I love this as a first song, the intro tape loop really works and the band lock in to the groove straight away. The audience were jumping up and down from the start and really got into it from Whos In Control. Lights Out was terrific- as good as I have ever seen them do it. Followed by Remember Me it was a rousing start to the set and the band were clearly loving the crowd reaction and fed off the atmosphere. The “Hamilton” set was particularly well received with Hamilton cheers which everyone really seem to appreciate. Only slightly low point for me was A Light Above Descending which just seems to meander along with no real purpose. It seemed to act to give the band a breather which was fair enough. What You`re Doing is a lovely song and always sung by both brothers with a real tenderness (always assumed it was about their Dad but I could be wide of the mark here) The run in of Mongk, Lucifer and Carrion really saw the band home in fine style with the whole crowd bouncing by now.

Yan announced that they had planned one song for the encore (yeah right) but were going to do four. You can take the temperature of a BSP gig by the level of antics for Spirit of St Louis and this was a belter. Yan was crowd surfing and generally ramping up the psychedelia and was no doubt really enjoying himself. Skua was of course majestic and topped off a great show.

For a band that now need to crowdfund new music and have to stand their shopkeeper down in fallow periods, there is still a lot of love out there for them. To still fill a venue this size with no promotion or new activity is a fantastic achievement and more than repaid with a top show.
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Re: Birmingham The Crossing 19/4/19 Review

Postby Slim » Wed Apr 24, 2019 12:33 pm

Have to agree about Callum Easter. Each to their own and I don't think the sound equipment did him any favours - sounded very boomy and muffled - but Jesus H, what a dismal dirge.
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Re: Birmingham The Crossing 19/4/19 Review

Postby Blackout » Wed Apr 24, 2019 1:39 pm

Each to their own, I really like him.

Interesting that when he supported Young Fathers he did use more electronics than when supporting BSP (the only time I've seen him before) - could have been just the constraints of a short notice set this time, or maybe he thought a BSP crowd would be more into the folkier side of what he does.
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Re: Birmingham The Crossing 19/4/19 Review

Postby TheAlex » Sat May 11, 2019 7:03 pm

It sounded like a good one. Aside from the more obvious songs, A Light Above Descending and Mongk II are two of my live favourites.
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