Wednesday, April 01, 2009

Gary Go/VV Brown/Elviin @ The Glee Club, Birmingham, Tuesday 31st March 2009


Despite having dined below the Glee Club at the Dragon Bar (a Wetherspoon's pub naturally...you know how tight I am) we managed to miss the first number of the first act, Elviin. I blame the cider. We caught most of the set though, very pleasant it was too. I especially enjoyed his song about having sex outdoors (it was called Worth Getting Arrested For...I think...or it might have been Whoops I've Got My John Thomas Caught in My Zip...it's the cider again), it had shades of Marvin Gaye to it (that 'Ooooooooh' bit is pure Sexual Healing), a man who probably enjoyed one or two al fresco nookie sessions in his time.

Next up, and the star of the show for me, V V Brown. V V is another one of those 'tipped for big things in 2009' kind of people. Blending an easy on the ear but soulful vocal with a pinch of doo wop and a lovin' spoonful of great pop (doo pop that'll be then) she rattled through what seemed like 100 songs in about 40 minutes. Not for VV the long drawn out guitar solos. Oh no. Get in. Verse. Chorus. Versus. Chorus. NEXT! That's the secret of great pop. Don't dick around. Going back to young Elviin it's like shagging in public. Hang around and you'll get your knob caught in your zip...metaphorically speaking. She's a loveable bundle of musical loveliness and could well produce a debut album that outwines the Winehouse. Cracking...without the crack. Check out 'Leave' (a one woman Pipettes), 'Crying Blood' (50's pop heaven) and 'Everybody' for a crash course in VV and look out for the album in June (of course they'll be no record shops to buy it from by then, but you can always download it from the interweb or listen to it over and over again for nowt on Spotify).


Joint headliner Gary Go has recently landed the Take That tour, so he'll soon be playing to tens of thousands of moist panted 30 something ladies reliving their moist panted teen years. There were a few moist panted ladies 30 something ladies there last night...and three younger ladies (I have no details on the moisture content of their pants) at the front who seemed to know every word to every song Gary warbled. Impressive. Gary looks a little like a cross beween Elvis Costello and Buddy Holly. That's not a bad musical analogy either, at least in terms of his ability to knock off a catchy tune (Wonderful is...well...just as the title suggests). Vocally there's touch of the James Blunt (shudders) in there, but unlike the Blunt there's a lot more more ooomph. Hook laden, piano driven pop. Pure and simple. He's a likeable performer too, but I get the sense that there's more of an acidic side to him than we're currently seeing and, like Costello, you can see Gary Go moving off into more high brow stuff when he gets bored with this pop star malarky.
Next gig The Anomalies, this Friday (the 3rd) at The Rainbow! Yes...Hearing Aid faves The Anomalies! You are coming aren't you? Oh goody. Mine's a cider.

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