The Birmingham Hotel never used to be the best place for gigs, but since the change of management and refurbishment of the old dining room into a band room, evenings at the Birmy always provide for a great night of live music.
Emerging young keyboardist/vocalist Dan Webb opened the night to an almost empty room but playing to an intimate crowd didn’t deter him from a top-notch performance. Dan’s energy levels were certainly impressive as just smiled and interacted with those in the room, clearly enjoying himself and having fun with his music. Playing a couple of tracks from his debut EP, Capitulation, including Mad as a Hatter, his flipping fingers created some seriously electric piano riffs. His vocals, although still slightly raw, will improve and sound even sweeter if he can get some harmonies happening with the band. Keep your eyes open – Dan Webb is ready to mix it up with the big kids.
The Solomons, co-headlining with the Red Aces, turned the heat up a little more with some classics like Loaded, Six Months and Some Kind of Aid. Although they’ve undergone some recent personnel changes with the departure of their lead vocalist/trumpet player and keyboardist (at live shows), their sound is still quite striking with the work of co-leads Cass Allan and Doug Hind. At points the sound might not have been as ‘slick’ or polished, partly due to a mixing imbalance, but they did have a new track that was just really awesome. It was slower – almost ballad like – and was terrifically harmonised. I hope it’ll be recorded on their EP.
The brothers from Red Aces probably had the biggest crowd of the night, sharing a few laughs with their fans and putting on a very electric show. Their mix of indie-rock, alt-country and general upbeat tunes make for a varied and interesting set, including a new song with smooth guitar and subtle key changes. Despite a missing capo (which was soon found), and various other shenanigans the Red Aces put on a solid show to round out a rather pleasant evening.