Editors at the new Academy, Birmingham

Last night I went along to the launch of the new Academy. Editors played and were good. Thanks to ace photographer Steve Gerrard for the invite. His photos will be up on Birmingham Live soon-ish and will probably be better than the one above. (Update – The Editors on Birmingham Live. There’s some good ones in there).

I was impressed by the new Academy. It feels a bit more purpose-built than the last place – there’s tiered seating on the balcony, the sound is better and Academy 2 is a vast improvement on the last version. The downstairs feels smaller but I didn’t get to explore the place too much.

I’ve had a good week of music actually. As well as Moseley Folk last weekend I saw both Tori Amos and the CBSO with conductor Andris Nelson (on separate nights) at the Symphony Hall – both were awesome.

Arriving at Supersonic 08

Today I’m down at Supersonic in the Custard Factory.  I’ve just got here and can’t believe my luck – Steve Gerrard (who’s snapping for Rock Sound, Terrorizer and Birmingham Live) has a studio right by the outside stage which makes a perfect base for writing up reviews, adding to CiB’s Supersonic collective memory post and generally kicking back.  Best of all the sofa’s nice and comfy.

I’m in the interesting (read slightly awkward) position of not having a clue about most of the bands playing.  It’s nice to check out some new stuff but it makes reviewing a little tricky.  Still, with one thing and another at the moment it makes for a welcome distraction.

Of the bands playing today, I heard a bit of Cath & Phil Tyler and The Owl Service are onstage doing their 60′s folky thing just now.  Later on I’m planning to catch Efterklang, Oxbow, Fuck Buttons, Battles and Harvey Milk, but then the best laid plans, etc and so on…

Here’s the view I have from my sweet setup here: