I have to admit that before this show I had no idea who Kevin Devine was. I now realise that Kevin Devine is an accomplished solo artist with a discography dating back to 2001 and stints in punk bands Miracle of 86' and Bad Books (with Andy hull of Manchester Orchestra). The support acts were fittingly chosen for this show. Fugitive Empire (6.4/10) is the solo project of 'Alex 'F' Coates'. For this show he was backed by a guest guitarist* . Alex proudly wears his influences on his sleeve. Openly admitting to being inspired by Kevin Devine, Connor Oberst and Elliott Smith. The latter of which he was 'massively inspired' by for his penultimate song as well as finishing with a cover of one of Elliott Smith's song's. He also gave specific shout-outs to people who had come down to the show and the sound guy. Much like the two performers after him Alex balanced his melodic, stripped back, guitar based tunes with dry sarcastic banter, asking people to sing along and bragging that one of his songs 'Cognitive Dissonance' had been played on the radio. He also talked about about how another one of his songs was inspired by talking to a homeless man and how it changed his views on life.Nottingham's George Gadd (6.8) started his set joking that he usually plays with a backing band "The Gadd Damn band"**. George can't seem to play any show without his audience cracking up with laughter. George is an acoustic singer/songwriter who draws from his own life experiences to write his songs. He seems to have no lack of weird and wonderful stories to draw inspiration from. Such as dumping an ex girlfriend, only to be chased by her one legged dad. Even just moving from Nottingham to Birmingham, makes for an engaging listen and overall metaphor for the trials of growing up. Of course this was drowned out a little bit by the heckles of 'George Gadd's fucking dad!' and other various shouts based around his last name. George just laughed and sighed 'Every fucking time'. George could just as easily be a stand up comedian as a singer/songwriter. acoustic gigs are rarely so hilarious.
Kevin Devine's albums recently have been pretty aggressive punk rock style affairs. Yet he is comfortable with nothing but his acoustic guitar. This show found Kevin in a laid back mood direcly talking to members of his audience. The set-list was mostly made up of older fan favourites and newer songs from last years album 'Instigator'. Without the God Damn band's backing the message of many of his songs is even clearer. He talked about how one of the songs he wrote in 2013, seemed too ridiculous at the time to release. Yet he now thinks it's not ridiculous enough, because 'reality can surprise you'. On no song is it clearer that Kevin is a protest singer than on the poetic anti-war song 'Carnival'. Which inspired the crowd to spontaneously do the 'Oh Jeremy Corbyn' chant. The political reference might have gone over his head, but Kevin did talk about how amazing it is that 'One Nation army' not only became a hit but also became a football chant. Like the two performers before him Kevin is funny and laid back between songs. He talked about about the messages he gets on-line can annoy him. Including one person claiming that his last music video was for the worst song on the album. Not that this bothered him too much, as 'there's worse songs on that album'. Even so, his advice to take a break from the internet sometimes is a good idea. Kevin Devine is a cult star. While he may not be successful in the mainstream. His small fan-base are passionate about him and his music. Towards the end Kevin thanked everyone for coming down and sincerely said that it was his favourite show that he had ever played in Birmingham.
(7.6)
Links:
www.facebook.com/pg/FugitiveEmpire
https://georgegadd.bandcamp.com/
http://www.kevindevine.net/
*from Solihull!
**Kevin Devine's backing band is the 'God Damn band', I didn't get that reference until now.
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