Review - Guillemots at Ikon Eastside, Birmingham
Songs about bears, a guitarist who plays the strings with an electric drill and secret gigs in art galleries. Guillemots like to do things differently.
Guillemots
Ikon Eastside, Birmingham
Concert review by Chris Davies
Songs about bears, a guitarist who plays the strings with an electric drill and secret gigs in art galleries. Guillemots like to do things differently.
And, as the band proved during Sunday night's performance at Birmingham's Ikon Eastside, not always taking the easy route can often pay dividends.
Due to the gig venue not being announced until the day of the show itself, a real buzz had built up around Moseley-born Fyfe Dangerfield and his three bandmates. But any doubts that the hype might overshadow the gig itself were soon quashed as the band launched into an energetic set, drawing heavily on songs from new album, Walk The River.
There's something distinctly Doctor Who-esque about Fyfe on stage, the singer's gangly frame putting everything into the music while his soaring vocals rise above the band's spacious, anthemic songs.
As a venue, Ikon Eastside suited the band perfectly, the high ceilings of this formerly dilapidated warehouse allowing the band's sound to really circulate. While the audience was treated to mainly new offerings, including current single, The Basket, Fyfe and Co also threw in some classics from 2006's Mercury-nominated album, Through The Windowpane, such as "Made-Up Lovesong #43".
Brazil-born guitarist MC Lord Magrão didn't disappoint either, treating the crowd to unorthodox playing techniques that possibly even Jimi Hendrix might have been jealous of.
The breed of bird from which the band takes its name spends most of its life at sea. And judging by last night's rapturous performance, Guillemots the band can look forward to a buoyant fan base for many years to come.
