Blessed by a Broken Heart

So, I went to a gig last night, it was very good!

I wrote a review for Birminghamlive.com so it should be up there soon. But because I know you're all too lazy to go looking I'll post it here as well, at the end of this post.

Yeah, so me and Emma went, while watching Fei Comodo we met two member of I Am Ghost, then met another one before they went on. Met most of Fei Comodo while Lennon/Devils Gift was on and they are lovely guys. Hopefully a band of mine will be supporting them when they come back to brum in March. After I Am Ghost we met the rest of the band (expect the lead singer who was ill :( but all the others) Emma is a huge fan so got autographs n photos... So BBABH were fucking great, stupid music, stupid hair, amazing live band. More like a party than a gig! Met some of them as well, and have photos to prove it!

So we're hanging around at the merch stand at the end of the night, I bought myself a BBABH tee. We're just standing about, chatting to random members of the bands and being cool like that (wishing I wore my nike high-tops, then I'd have been really cool) and Lennon, Suicide girl and singer tells me to buy a cd. So I'm like "I'm not sure I can afford it" knowing too well that I can, but I didn't want to, so she knocks it down to £5 and I'm feeling mean for not buying anything from her, and then she offers a t-shirt as well. So I fell well bad. But then Emma says she wants to see the suicide girl boobs. She's quite good looking, so, I ask like you do, and there we go, she pulls up her top, and the boobs look weird, all squished and nasty looking, then down comes the bra, and she has these freaky tits! Like a food bag half-filled with sand stapled to her chest! It was a sight I'd rather forget! She even kept them out for much longer than you'd Anyway, she got her tits out and I bought a cd and tee for £6, all good! Then, as expected from a drunk girl who just got her tits out, she wanted to see Emmas (far far nicer!) I think Lennon felt a bit sad when she saw Emmas awesome rack!

Damn it was a great night... shame on you for not coming! Oh, and just incase you think this might me think brum is any good. NOPE! hardly any people to see awesome bands, fuck you brum!

Review!


Blessed By A Broken Heart, I Am Ghost, Devils Gift, Fei Comodo

It's rare that I queue for a gig, but with a Line-up this good, I didn’t want to miss a thing. While I'm not the only one, the queue is very short, and the moving of the gig to the main barfly room meant the lack of people was very noticeable.

First on are Fei Comodo, probably most famous for the 'Mighty Moshin' Emo Rangers' theme tune they did a few years ago. Now with a full length album and second single on the way the band have stepped things up a notch. They performed very well, the Essex boys bouncing all over the stage, the most impressive being the lead singer, jumping down to the barrier to sing along with the few diehard fans. His voice is incredible, pitch perfect and very powerful, a true front man. However while the band play good songs and put on a great show, there's the overwhelming feeling that this has all been done before, a lot. It's good but the band really aren't pushing any boundaries, this is solid emo/hardcore but it's nothing groundbreaking. Even so, I'll be back to see them in March, and I think you should be there as well.

Next on was supposed to be Devils Gift, but (as she put it) the band wussed out, leaving only the female lead singer to do her solo material. While she can certainly sing, the set was really a massive come down after the high energy stuff of Fei Comodo. Lennon is a suicide girl, which caused some heckling, mostly "Get your tits out!", but she held her own - accusing the worst culprit of being a virgin. But this was not enough to forgive 30 minutes of bland, un-dynamic piano/vocal pop.

I Am Ghost were pretty big about a year ago, with lots of Kerrang! play, so it was a really surprise that the room was still so quiet, the gothic-punk styles of 'Our Friend Lazarus Sleeps' having made waves in the UK. The band have lost their female vocalist/violinist so were using a laptop to recreate her parts. It was a little odd to hear her voice coming through the speakers while the whole band is guys. Unfortunately the sound was not great so most of the songs sounded very similar, and with the lead singers flu most songs were hard to recognise. They still managed to create a truly epic feel at times though, every band member singing, adding to the huge harmonies. Even through sickness the band looked like they were enjoying themselves, definitely worth seeing again.

Blessed By A Broken Heart come on stage, with the room still hardly half-full but this doesn't dampen their spirit. They're an odd band, taking modern hardcore and mixing it with 80s' hair metal and cheesy pop. Think Motley Cru, sleeping with Tina Turner’s synth player, Oli Sykes of Bring Me The Horizon all covered in grated cheese. While the lesser known tracks are easily forgotten in a haze of constant shredding and double bass drum pedal, and the PA struggles to keep any definition in the rhythm section, songs like 'Show Me What You Got', 'Blood On Your Hands' and the ultra cheesy 'Move Your Body' really show off what BBABH are about. Only one band could scream, 'Throw your hands up' and 'Do the robot' and this is them! It's hilarious, but it's obvious that they are in on the joke. It's explained that bassist and second vocalist Tyler was arrested the previous night in Glasgow for defending a fan from a bouncer, which explains the rather nervous appearance of the stand-in guy, his movements minimal, especially in comparison to the rest of the band. As I watch from the balcony there is a guy beside me, joking with the guys from Fei Comodo, and when the band leave the stage a mic appears in his hands. "Guess who's free!" he shouts down, then running down to the stage to join his band mates for the ridiculous song that is 'Mic Skillz 2' A 10 minute epic, no structure, just awesome riffs, brutal screaming ("COOKIE MONSTER!") and stage invasion by members of I Am Ghost and Fei Comodo. Whether you love or hate the music this band makes, you will love them live. An amazing party atmosphere and an amazing show.