Blackberry Smoke - Birmingham Review

Following last night's adventures in Birmingham which I will soon get to, I went to six gigs in March. 2023 has been very busy for gigs so far, but March takes the crown for the busiest month. Things are about to get much more normal from April onwards, but I have enjoyed getting to so many shows recently. With the live music industry still playing catch-up from the COVID-19 pandemic, touring cycles are still somewhat out of sync. So many bands have been touring over the past couple of years - and these past few months have somewhat felt like backlog clearing. Whilst there are still a handful of tickets that I have which I have had for a while due to postponements, or were postponed before I got my ticket, I have largely caught up with myself now. One that needed crossing off took place last night, though, as the American country/southern rock band Blackberry Smoke brought their latest tour to the O2 Academy in Birmingham. Blackberry Smoke's tour was postponed at least once, but I only bought my ticket to the Birmingham show after it was postponed from last year. Others had been waiting longer than me for the gig, then, but the wait still seemed like a long one - especially given what a great band Blackberry Smoke are. I first got into them in around 2014, when their third album The Whippoorwill was released here in the UK. It was the first of their albums to be released outside of America, and the UK southern rock fanbase immediately latched onto it. Southern rock has always been popular here, and it did not take Blackberry Smoke long to find themselves at home here. I saw the band for the first time in 2014 in London - and then again in 2018 in Bristol on the tour for 2018's Find a Light. Both of those shows were well attended and blessed with excellent atmospheres - so I was gutted when the band's planned 2022 shows clashed with other plans. Neither of the two ended up happening for obvious reasons, so I bought a ticket for the rescheduled show. I would have likely done so anyway, but the catalyst for doing so was partly the release of 2021's excellent You Hear Georgia. Whilst I do not think that Blackberry Smoke have released a bad album, both 2016's Like an Arrow and Find a Light certainly saw the band operating more as a country act than a southern rock one. Blackberry Smoke have always straddled the line, but those albums lacked some of the heft that I generally like about their sound. You Hear Georgia rectified that, though, and it was an album I listened to a lot throughout 2021. Another good reason to see the band live is the fact that they tend to change their setlists night after night - meaning that there is always a chance to hear a deep cut or two alongside a few newer songs and old favourites. Many others had the same thought, too, as Birmingham's O2 Academy was packed throughout the night. It is not one of my favourite venues, and it can often feel overcrowded. Whilst last night's show was not as oppressive as Trivium's recent show there, it still felt over-full - which was not helped by those pushing back and forth to the bar.

Before Blackberry Smoke's set, though, the growing crowd was treated to 40 minutes or so of riffy southern rock from Oklahoma's Read Southall Band. Fronted by Read Southall, the band played a pretty traditional brand of southern rock - but I do not think that anyone in attendance would have been upset about this, especially as the lengthy opening number included some twin-guitar riffing and a bluesy guitar solo before it got going properly. Despite the band being named after Southall, who proved to be a captivating frontman with a voice suitably rough for the genre's needs, they very much seemed like a proper 'band'. The musicians were not there to simply carry Southall's songs, with the two guitarists in particularly shining with lots of great lead guitar interplay and a few moments and busy slide. Keyboards also played a big part in the band's sound, with washes of organ often filling the gaps between the guitar licks and riffs. The set's sole ballad was also very keyboard driven, with everything being based around some sombre piano melodies - even as the song grew in stature towards the end. I had given one of the band's songs a listen prior to the show, but the song which I had listened to was clearly not very representative of their sound. I was expecting the band to be much more downbeat and country in sound than they ended up being - and it was great that they turned out to be more of a classic-sounding southern rock band. They certainly could not be described as original, but given that so many of the classic southern rock acts are no more or are operating with none of their original members it is great to see a newer band carrying the torch for that classic sound. I imagine that only a handful of the newer southern rock bands make any kind of traction here in the UK - so it was good that Blackberry Smoke decided to bring one of them out on the road. I enjoyed the Read Southall Band's set, and judging by the reaction of the crowd throughout it would seem that most of the others in attendance also did. Hopefully the tour will be a success for them - as they are certainly a band whom I will be checking out further going forward. With the likes of them and The Georgia Thunderbolts, though, southern rock seems to be in good hands - and I hope that in time we start to hear more from the current crop of southern rock bands.

Half an hour or so after the Read Southall Band's set, the lights went down and the now-expanded line-up of Blackberry Smoke took to the stage. Since I last saw the band in 2018, both Benji Shanks (guitar) and Preston Holcomb (percussion) have been been added to the line-up - expanding Blackberry Smoke to a seven-piece. Due to his on-going battle with a brain tumour, drummer Brit Turner was not playing with the band having been unable to complete a show earlier in the week. Kent Aberle filled his spot, doing an admirable job throughout the two hour set, but of course best wishes go out to Brit. Despite this change in personnel, Blackberry Smoke rocked. Brit's absence did not lessen the impact of the show, and the band seemed really fired up - dedicating the show to him and opening with the fast-paced Leave a Scar. Whilst there were slower moments and ballads throughout, overall the set felt pretty hard-hitting. The band clearly wanted to rock out in Birmingham, and Charlie Starr (vocals/guitar/percussion) was in rude form throughout - peeling off a number of bluesy solos during the evening, whilst singing powerfully. The first five songs were essentially all rockers, with Good One Comin' On seeing plenty of singing from the crowd - as did the country-picking of Let It Burn. It was perhaps You Hear Georgia that stood out the most early on, though. The addition of Shanks allowed for a lot more slide guitar to feature in the set, and this song featured his playing heavily. He added another dimension to the band's live sound, which, in truth, could not be said about Holcomb. His additions to the sound were barely audible, which was a shame - as his congas could have contributed to some of the band's groovier numbers. Hey Delilah was one song which was enhanced by his playing, though, with the hooky new number whipping up a groovy storm before the band launched into Lucky Seven and the heavier Sleeping Dogs - the latter of which featured a snippet of Tom Petty's Don't Come Around Here No More. The harder rocking set was paced nicely, though, with some slower numbers thrown in. The melodic Ain't the Same also saw plenty of singing from the crowd - as did the country twang of What Comes Naturally, which proved to be a nice change of pace after the muscular Waiting for the Thunder. The latter featured a big keyboard presence from Brandon Still - who's organ playing was generally pretty high in the mix. Following a brief rendition of the oldie Livin' Hell, the acoustic-based Ain't Got the Blues led into a couple more slower tracks in the plaintive Run Away From It All and the ever-present One Horse Town - which was again sung loudly by the crowd. The main set then came to an end with Old Scarecrow, dedicated to Brit, with Brit's brother Richard Turner (bass guitar/vocals) driving everything with a pulsing bassline. A two-song encore followed, though, and it contained two real old favourites. The single which launched the band here in the UK, Shakin' Hands With the Holy Ghost, showcased the band's tougher side -  before an upbeat version of Ain't Much Left of Me, which included part of Lynyrd Skynyrd's Mississippi Kid, brought the two hour set to a rousing conclusion. The setlist was:

Leave a Scar

Good One Comin' On

Let It Burn

Live It Down

You Hear Georgia

Pretty Little Lie

Payback's a Bitch

Hey Delilah

Lucky Seven

Sleeping Dogs/Don't Come Around Here No More [Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers cover]

Ain't the Same

Ain't Gonna Wait

Everybody Knows She's Mine

Waiting for the Thunder

What Comes Naturally

Livin' Hell

Ain't Got the Blues

Run Away From It All

One Horse Town

Old Scarecrow

-

Shakin' Hands With the Holy Ghost

Ain't Much Left of Me/Mississippi Kid [Lynyrd Skynyrd cover]

Speaking of newer southern rock acts, Blackberry Smoke are almost certainly the modern kings of the genre at this point. They have been going for over 20 years, and are a big draw both at home in America and throughout Europe. Both of the previous gigs of theirs that I went to were great, but last night in Birmingham was likely the best of the bunch. The setlist focused on their heavier side, and seeing the band steam through half of their latest album, too, was a real treat. They are a band that have earnt their seat at the table, and I am sure that they will continue to go from strength to strength - and I look forward to their next album and tour.