King Salami and the Cumberland Three, The Good Water and Ideal Club: Sunflower Lounge, Birmingham - review

And there was certainly nothing normal about the music being pumped out by Ideal Club, Birmingham's very own The Good Water and the sublime King Salami and the Cumberland Three.

With the crowd nicely warmed up with the thrash metal-style rock of Ideal Club, it was time for unique two-piece band The Good Water to take to the stage.

Lead singer and guitarist Rob Clements, and drummer and backing vocalist Tom Fisher, have been receiving rave reviews recently on the radio and online.

The Sunflower crowd were treated to a wonderful 30-minute set, which began and ended with a new track, Everything is.

The catchy rhythms and complex arrangements are made all the more impressive when you consider there is no bass and no back up guitar – just two talented musicians at the top of their game.

Their tracks Castles, Love and Seen Her Tonight are full of toe-tapping riffs and beautiful harmonies.

Clements and Fisher have been jamming off and on for the last 10 years – and when they work together on stage it all comes together.

But it's been their recent releases of See your Light and Mansaid that have really brought the pair into the limelight – check out the tracks on iTunes or read positive reviews from the likes BBC Radio 6's Steve Lamacq to get a feel for what they're all about.

They saved the best until last too, in my opinion, at the Sunflower – which is looking very much the perfect, quiant and intimate rock venue following its plush refurbishment – when they returned to Everything Is for their send-off track.

Clearly talented musicans, most of their songs and based on tight, simplistic beats and riffs, which work so well – but every now and again it's nice to see performers just jam, and their 10-minute finale was the perfect send off.

It all paved the way for London's King Salami and the Cumberland Three, who had made their way to the second city for the first time.

Describing their act – and it is an act rather than a set – is pretty difficult but most importantly the band is led superbly but frontman Jimmy Pantzavolta.

Engaging with the crowd from the first beat, his lyrics and swagger get the fans on their feet and bopping to every song from the first to last.

The rhythm 'n' blues-Punk band, inspired by songs and groups from the 50s and 60s, have released four albums now, which all have a Caribbean, French, Japanese and Spanish influence – which is where the band members hail from.

Singles Cotton Picking, Do the Climb Suttering Sue, Shiver (Stop) Don't Be So Mean, King Size Love and Big Chief were all full of energey as the group refuses to let up for entireity of their 45-minute set.

Having never heard their music before, Sookie, Snake Charmer and Pineapple Mama really struck a chord with me as the guitarist, bass player and drummer ­- Kamikaze U T Vincent, T Bone Sanchez and Eric Baconstrip - let loose behind the aggressive singing of turban-wearing Pantzavolta.

There was plenty of comedy inbetween and during tracks, and a chance for Pantzavolta to shake his maracas while the drummer released an impressive solo. It was madness supported by solid 12-bar blues, rock and roll, and a hint of punk.

As the lead singer bizarrely told 'anyone under the age of 26 to home' – clearly tongue in cheek – there was still time for a cover of Tainted Love.

It rounded off a very enjoyable night and it's fair to say Thursdays will never be the same again.

By James Driver-Fisher