NME Tour – Birmingham Academy, 6/02/08

In past years getting tickets for the annual NME tour was a case of hammering the phone lines as soon as they opened. Tickets sold fast and with good reason – some timely booking secured acts such as Franz Ferdinand, The Killers, Arctic Monkeys, Kaiser Chiefs and Maximo Park when they were on the cusp of national recognition. However, last year was a low ebb (Mumm-Ra anyone?) and this year’s bill didn’t seem to get the juices flowing either; tickets were still available on the door. Continue reading “NME Tour – Birmingham Academy, 6/02/08”

Palladium/Alphabeat @ Bar Academy, 2/02/08

“We’re Alphabeat and we play pop!” Yes, they sure do! Alphabeat are a pop band who are in the habit of stating the obvious. Six fresh-faced, energetic Danes who do exactly what they say they do. There’s no angst, subtle subtexts or navel-gazing, just honest to goodness, perky nonsense with more bounce to the ounce. You may have noticed they were a CDX top tip for 2008 and for good reason seemingly. Continue reading “Palladium/Alphabeat @ Bar Academy, 2/02/08”

Air/Au Revoir Simone @ Birmingham Academy, 14/11/07

I missed Au Revoir Simone when I went to see We Are Scientists a while back and kicked myself for it. If you’ve not come across their floaty-light ethereal pop tunes, and if that description even half interests you, then I’d urge you to pick up one of their albums. Unfortunately, despite turning up earlier than I usually do I still managed to miss them so this portion of the review comes courtesy of a couple of my friends (hi Kelly and Rich) who I bumped into as I arrived. They’d bought tickets just to see Au Revoir Simone and were going home perfectly happy. I guess that’s a ringing endorsement from them then. Continue reading “Air/Au Revoir Simone @ Birmingham Academy, 14/11/07”