A chaotic night in the best way possible. See all of these acts if you can. Gig review by Henry Fox
With a last minute drop-out, the show was already off to a chaotic start. As people filed into the iconic Victoria in Birmingham, a mysterious opener armed with only an acoustic guitar and harmonica took the stage. His music – relaxing, soft and smooth. The dappled light coming from a disco ball accompanying him.
The crowd was casual to begin with, most standing, chilled out, by the bar at the back. Standing around watching the show turned to dancing and celebrations as a photographer accompanying one of the bands made his way around the crowd.
With the end of the performance came whoops and hollers of “Who are you?” “We love you” towards the mysterious opener. Who left the stage to huge applause. Huge applause at end.
The LivinTones start with powerful vocals, much louder than last performance. The LivinTones, based in Tamworth, are inspired by a mishmash of genres, giving them a unique sound.
By this point it became difficult to hear anything but the music, as the room fills even more. Punchy and energetic, their performance energized the crowd, giving great tunes to dance to.
By now the small Jack Daniels event room was packed with dozens of people as the third band goes to perform.
Independent Wolverhampton-based band Façade took the stage with strong, unique vocals, and a guitar-heavy sound. The whole band had an amazing stage presence from the get-go. Banter with the audience getting them more riled up and more people joining the dancefloor.
“This next one you should all know so I expect to see some dancing”. A highlight towards the end was their rendition of Duffy’s 2007 hit Mercy before the music faded out.
The last act of the night was headliner The Jetty’s. The Jetty’s drew the largest crowd, with a beachy alternative vibe, much of the crowd had been waiting all night for this moment, and they went wild.
Chants of “JETTY’S! JETTY’S!” reverberated against the walls of the Victoria’s Jack Daniels room, renditions of “happy birthday to you” greeted the band’s guitarist, and even the shyest audience member was dancing The crowd at one point began jumping to the point the whole floor shook underfoot.
Towards the end of the night, a couple of slower songs were played, including the Jetty’s first ever song, the band’s frontman saying: “I want to see everybody’s lights lighting up this room”, and the audience did just that, with dozens of phone lights swaying with the beat.
The last performance too was just electric. Guests demanded an encore, but unfortunately, the bands were out of time.
Overall, an amazing experience, and I would recommend seeing any of these bands live if you get the chance.
https://neillivs.wixsite.com/thelivintones
https://www.thevictoriabirmingham.co.uk/
https://www.instagram.com/facade_the_band/
