Last weekend started with a bang, which was accompanied by some beautiful violin playing and brutal guitar lines. I was of course in Birmingham watching Talons, who are one of the UK’s hottest musical prospects.
As I got onto the train with Andy (who took all the pictures) we watched all the unfortunate Vampire Weekend fans getting into Wolverhampton for the show at the Civic. These poor young souls didn’t realise what they were going to miss in Birmingham for a quarter of the price. In truth we didn’t know quite how incredible the night and line up were going to be, but both Andy and I were blown away by ‘Hollow Realm’, Talons’ debut release, from the very first listen.
As we arrived at the Flapper to find a frozen canal and ice covered tables we were glad to be tucked away in the small back stage area with the band for an interview (which will be up shortly). The first two acts Killer Yogi and I/O played interesting sets, which were well worth watching. I’m looking forward to seeing both again, especially as now I know what to expect I will be able to formulate a full opinion on them.
Wolverhampton’s finest God Damn were the first band to properly blow us away with their very individual sound and manic live performance. They’re a band I have seen numerous times and have never been disappointed by the live sound or performance. My description on the night was classicrockhardcore which sums elements of them up perfectly and does nothing for others. The band are a soundclash between individual styles and techniques which comes together into something very original and well worth checking out.
Tonight was an example of one of the most irritating things about living in Wolverhampton, and Birmingham having such a good live music scene. As Talons took the stage I had a quick glance down at my watch to see we only had half an hour of their set to watch before the mad rush to the train to get back home again. During that half hour the band made me feel almost every emotion possible without the need to use a single word. The level of aggression that comes through every instrument is balanced by the moments of immense beauty and backed up by uncomfortable suspense.
I thought I knew what to expect from the live performance after listening to the record numerous times but it turned out I was wrong. The live performance increases the intensity and general brilliance to alarming levels and as I looked around the audience the entire front row was looking on in amazement.
Cheers to Andy Hall for all the pics you check the whole set out here
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