Tues 13th November 07 - Biffy Clyro

Last night me and Em went to seee Biffy Clyro at Birmingham Academy...

Biffy Clyro: Simon Neil, James Johnston, Ben Johnston

Support Acts: The Matches and Forward Russia

The Matches: Shawn Harris, Justin San, Souci, Jon Devoto, Matt Whalen

Forward Russia: Tom Woodhead, Rob Canning, Katie Nicholls Whiskas

We got there for about 5.15 as we thought the doors opened at 6pm and we wanted t get a good place but the doors didnt open till 7pm so we were very close to the front of the queue...

This meant we would be able to get a good place on the balcony..

The first support act came on at about 8pm and they were called The Matches, I cant say I liked there music much at all and they said who they were quite a few times..... (did they think we were stupid)... They had a random man that came on and played a triangle for a short while to, who later on took over the guitar so the lead singer could run about.... They did about a half hour set...

After a short break Forward Russia came on, I found there music a lot better and it was nice to see a female drummer..... although the lead singer constantly looked like he was fitting, but his vocals were quite good, the sound quality seemed to be a lot better for them to...

At 9.30pm, it was Biffys turn and the whole crowd erupted and the lower level turned into one big mosh pit, I was so glad we had decided not to stand down there as everyone was getting crushed at some point.... But as always if someone fell over then someone would always make sure they were picked up without being trampled on.... Ive really got into Biffy since seeing them do some live performances over the summer. I only own Puzzle but really enjoy their music and after that gig I will be getting some of their other 4 albums...

They played for well over an hour first with songs such as, Saturday Superhouse, Living is a Problem Because Everything Dies, Folding Stars, and now Im everyone, plus some traks off other albums then was my fav part of the night as Simon came on stage on his own with an acoustic and played machines, I love this song so much and it was a great moment of the gig with everyone stood still watching him and singing along... Then the rest of the band joined him again and they played a few more tracks before leaving the stage at around 11pm.... It was an awesome gig and I would definately see them again!

As we came out we saw the queue for the car park was huge so we went straight to the car and decided to pay for the parking at the barrier, It saved us about half an hour waiting in the cold and we were back in Shrewsbury for about 12pm....

I give it 5 stars

Sunday 11th November 07 - Stereophonics

On Sunday we went to see the Stereophonics at the NEC in Birmingham

I went with my mate Vic...

Stereophonics: Kelly Jones, Richard Jones, Javier Weyler

When we got there we realised we had great seats, right near the stage!

The support act was The Enemy

The Enemy: Tom Clarke,Liam Watts, Andy Hopkins

The Enemy came on at 7.45, I enjoyed them actually, I had heard a lot of their music as they haven't long been discovered. They were on for about half an hour and seemed to get the crowd going.... They played "Had Enough" and "You're not alone" amongst other tracks...

The Stereophonics came on at 9pm and from the start got everyone going. They kicked off with "Bank Holiday Monday". Vic had seen them before at a couple of festivals but this was my first time seeing them live!

I really enjoyed them and Kelly kept making little jokes now and again, he even got confused by what day it was as he thought it was Friday until one of the band members set him straight!

Other songs they played included "Pick a part", "Mr Writer" and "Superman", then Kelly was left on his own while he played parts of "Hurry Up", Nice Day", "Traffic", "and most of "Maybe Tommorow", then the rest of the band joined him gain.. Before the Encore they finished on "Local Boy". I like the fact that they give details of what some of the songs are about and what the inspiration was... Even telling us what gigs they had been to the NEC to see.... For the Encore they played 2 songs. "It means nothing" and finishing on "Dakota".... Then they didn't seem to want to leave the stage!!!! They whole set was about 1 and 3/4 hours which is a pretty long time!

I really enjoyed the gig and it was a sold out event but for some reason didn't seem so big this time?

On the way out I was lucky enough to be given the set list too!!!!

It took a while to get home because of all the traffic leaving the NEC but were back in Shrewsbury by 12pm....

I give this gig 5 stars

Saturday October 27th 2007 - Ash

Went to see Ash at Birmingham Carling Academy.

Ash: Tim Wheeler, Mark Hamilton and Rick McMurray
They were supported by

The Dead 60s and The Dodgems
The Dead 60's: Ben Gordon, Charlie Turner, Matt McManamon, Bryan Johnson

The Dodgems: Phil Goodwin, Tom Goodwin, Chris Murray, Eric Miller

I went with my Em, it was a birthday present from her.

We got there an hour before the doors opened expecting quite a big queue but to out surprise there were only 4 other people queuing. Em went off and got us a Maccys and warm drinks.

The queue got a bit bigger before the gates opened but it wasn't that big! I wasn't a sell out event. When we got inside at about 6pm we noticed it was only the down stairs that was open for this gig...

We decided to stand at the front and watch the support acts.The ..... Came on just before 7 and did about half hour set, then the dead 60's came on and did about the same...

I enjoyed both the Dead 60s and The Dodgems

By this time the venue was starting to fill up but nothing like it has been in the past so we decided to stay at the front. (this being a very brave decision as I have never stood at the front of any gig before).

Being at the front we were only a few feet away from the stage, which was awesome!

When Ash came on the crowd did go a little mad a pushed a little bit but nothing I couldn't handle and it did calm down... (nothing like the moshing at greenday at milton keynes bowl).



They kicked off with Meltdown and the into cherry bomb. It was very different being right by the stage.. They played favorites such as Shinning Light, Sometimes, Angel, and Girl from Mars.

They then disappeared and for the encore did End of the Word, Pacific Palisades, Numb Skull and Baby Burn, for the encore there was a loot of pushing and I did get bruised but it was all worth it. As Ash had a great stage presents and seemed to enjoy themselves as much as the crowd did!



I give this gig a rating of 4 stars!