Category: reviews

8th November | O2 Academy

Sleaford Mods – essentially a middle aged man mouthing off and his friend hiding behind a laptop. If you walked into your local pub and saw this display, would you turn around and leave? Probably so, yet the duo from Nottingham filled out the O2 Academy with loyal and excited fans. So what makes Jason Williamson and Andrew Fearn different?

Recently signing to Rough Trade Records earlier this year, broadening their scope and getting their music across to a bigger audience – which is a reflection on the venue upgrade from last year’s performance at the Bierkeller. Opening with ‘I Can Tell’  from their latest EP TCR, the predominately white, middle aged crowd instantly tear their mouths away from their red stripe with an uproar, knowing most, if not all of the words.

They’re compelling, abrasive and plain bloody entertaining – Jason Williamson’s twitch matched with his stumbling around the stage in which he says “is linked to his concentration” (take that as you will) and Andrew’s swaying behind the laptop is immediately eye catching. How exactly have these two filled out the O2?

Physical distractions aside, stripping it down to just the lyrics and you can really hear the references to austerity-era Britain and working class life. Williamson has recently been suspended from the Labour party due to an explicit tweet regarding one of the MP’s, yet another controversial statement from one half of the duo. You can feel the passion from Williamson, particularly in the new material for both ‘I Can Tell’ and ‘TCR’ as each word is delivered with honesty and anger.

The crowd are receptive –  shouting along with pints being flung on stage but through the sea of beer you get the sense of a community, that we’re all in this together. As much as the focus is on the latest tracks, Williamson and his partner in crime still deliver the crowd pleasers – ‘Jobseeker’ and ‘Tweet Tweet Tweet’ getting the crowd revved up, to the point where two guys in front of me are being driven to the exit. Despite the odd altercations, there was nothing bringing the mood down – every single person in the room used up every bit of energy they had right up to the very end of the set.

So what makes Sleaford Mods different? They’re normal people, standing for something and being a voice for many members of the public. The soundtrack to broken Britain.

 

14/11/15 | Bristol O2 Academy

‘I love his maroon leather trousers’ was the first thought that entered my head as Ezra Furman jittered onto the stage, didn’t take me long to realise that his trousers were actually a tight pencil skirt. Ezra Furman is a role model for gender fluid – refusing to identify as a particular gender, sometimes relating to a combination of genders. The Chicago musician has spoken openly about how he has found freedom in gender fluidity and the approach in which he chooses to live helps shape his performance. Shaping his performance it does, tonight at Bristol 02 academy was no different.

Ezra was joined by what some may call his band mates but he calls his boyfriends, they have joined him on stage for the tour and have been involved with two albums with Ezra. The bands energy is electric, passionate and indeed infectious – the crowd are buzzing with excitement as they wait, not so patiently for the gig to commence. Ezra kicks off the show with a cover of the legendary Velvet Underground’s ‘Rock N Roll’ – Lou Reed being an inspiration for Furman’s style of music – it only deemed appropriate to start with this classic.

In wake of the unfortunate attack on Paris the night before, Ezra made a touching tribute to the victims and reminding us that we are lucky to be alive. Furman mentioned several times how he was ‘Glad that we are alive’ with such genuine tone to his voice, you could feel the entire crowd’s silence as everyone’s head was thinking of Paris and everyone’s heart went out to Paris.

Not dwelling on the unfortunate events too much, Ezra and the Boyfriends went straight into ‘Body was made’ which got everyone on their feet and dancing like it was their last night on earth. Furman pours every emotion into his voice, combined with the riffs from the boyfriend’s guitars – it’s the perfect match. Moving straight on to the belter ‘Restless Years’, I honestly believe that Ezra is one of the most compelling acts I’ve seen not just this year, but in all my time attending gigs.

Furman manages to address controversial topics but without bringing down the atmosphere, as he speaks of gender fluidity, he has the ability to make you feel that he is talking to you, and you alone, not to the other 2000+ people in the sold out venue. ‘Don’t be ashamed of yourself, wear what you want’ he talks about the real things in life, engaging with his audience.

Returning alone for the encore Furman plays three songs, all varied and all equally as brilliant. Ezra covered Arcade Fires ‘Crown of love’ and the reception from the audience was strong and pleasant. Starting with ‘Down’ from his first Album, a beautifully melancholic song but the audience is brought back up with his finale ‘My Zero’. Furman now takes interacting with the audience one step further by asking us all to squat to our knees to capture the essence of the song, which is the feeling of being trapped in your own body. It was a fantastic way to end the show, I mean that’s one way to start a mosh pit.

Furman is not just a talented musician but a performer, motivational speaker and a poet but most importantly someone that is a must see live.