xlO48

Music PREVIEWS
Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel
Symphony Hall, Birmingham, Sun 29 June
Proving time and again that he’s much more
than just a front man, Steve Harley’s not
afraid to look at new ways of developing himself
as a musician. Still, from his fans’ point of
view, it’s his back-catalogue of hits that matters
most - and Harley’s sensible enough to
know that however much you may reinvent
yourself, trying to deny a memorable past is
futile in the extreme. With this in mind, he
here performs (in full) the first two Cockney
Rebel albums - 1973’s The Human
Menagerie and 1974’s The Psychomodo -
and is ably assisted by the Orchestra of The
Swan and its choir. A highlight of the show is
sure to be the epic Death Trip. At twelve minutes
in length, the song has never before
been performed live with the full orchestration
of the recorded version.
Thea Gilmore
Artrix, Bromsgrove, Wed 4 June; The Assembly, Leamington Spa, Fri 6 June
A distinctly English take on the angst-rock blueprint of American artists such as Ani DiFranco
and Alanis Morissette has seen Thea Gilmore gain both a cult following and critical acclaim.
Thea has played to sell-out crowds throughout the UK, and has appeared at major events
such as T In The Park, V Festival and Cambridge Folk. She visits the Midlands following the
massive success of her 2013 album Regardless, which featured the hit single Love Came
Looking For Me.
Dexys
Kasbah, Coventry, Wed 25 June
Rebranded from Dexys Midnight Runners in
2003, Dexys is the brainchild of the famously
intense Kevin Rowland. A pop band with real
soul, they’re very much on the comeback
trail, and will here be performing songs from
2012’s One Day I’m Going To Soar - released
a staggering twenty-seven years after their
previous album. The band haven’t played
Coventry in over thirty years, and are stopping
off in the city as part of their warm-up
schedule for Glastonbury. Old favourites such
as Come On Eileen and Geno also feature on
the playlist.
Heaven & Earth
O2 Academy, Birmingham, Thurs 26 June
Starting out as a solo project for guitarist Stuart
Smith, Heaven & Earth came about when
the former Sweet guitarist enlisted friends
Richie Sambora, Joe Lynn Turner, Glenn
Hughes, Camine Appice, Howard Leese and
Kelly Hansen to help him record an album.
Released in 1998 to great critical acclaim,
Stuart Smith’s Heaven & Earth was followed
by Windows To The World in 2001. More recently,
the band have released bluesy hard
rock album Dig. Resurrecting classic rock,
Heaven & Earth are refreshingly accessible,
and very much in the same vein as Deep Purple
and Bad Company.
Remi Harris Trio &
TG Collective
Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry, Thurs 5 June
The young and contemporary Remi Harris
Trio bring together traditional gypsy jazz and
swing characteristics with influences from
bebop, blues, rock, world music, contemporary
jazz and popular melodies.
They’re joined for this Studio gig at Warwick
Arts Centre by instrumental seven-piece TG
Collective, whose sound features an intriguing
mix of gypsy jazz, flamenco, jazz and
contemporary classical
music. Greatly admired
for the intensity of their
live performances, their
original arrangements
touch on influences as
varied as Paco de Lucia,
Django Reinhardt and JS
Bach.
Parquet Courts
The Institute, Birmingham, Mon 23 June
New York punk-rock four-piece Parquet
Courts have the energy of The Clash, and
perform with surly disdain. Putting out their
first EP, American Specialities, on cassette in
2011, they followed up a year later with Light
Up Gold, which was recorded in three days
after the band pulled sickies from work. Now
on the road with Sunbathing Animal, the boys
have said it was “out of character” for them to
spend so long in the studio recording the follow-up.
They play five UK shows ahead of
their Longitude and Latitude festival appearances
in July.
Hatful Of Rain
Kitchen Garden Cafe, Birmingham,
Tues 10 June; Henry Tudor House, Shrewsbury,
Sun 15 June
Named after a Tom Waits lyric, Hatful Of Rain
are based in East Sussex, influenced by Old
Time and remain true to the British stringband
format whilst playing in a folk and roots
style. Composing material strongly influenced
by tradition, they perform using a single
microphone to present a communal style
of singing that’s both warm and intimate. True
to their roots, they recorded their 2012 debut
album in a converted barn.
Amp Fiddler
Hare & Hounds, Birmingham, Wed 11 June
Singer and producer Joseph ‘Amp’ Fiddler is
a keyboard, organ and piano player who’s
shared stages and studios with Prince, the
Brand New Heavies and Primal Scream.
Performing and creating in a musical style
that encompasses funk, soul, dance and
electronica, he’s a charismatic performer
who’s best known for his work with Enchantment.
Laying low in recent times, he released
Basementality 2 earlier this year, a six-track
EP featuring a duet with Raphael Saadiq.
www.whatsonlive.co.uk 15