Blackberry Smoke - Birmingham Review

Following an excellent night in Islington, and something of a welcome lie in the following morning, I headed back to Islington for lunch in a local café before walking down to Euston station to catch the train to Birmingham. It is rare that I go to both of the UK's largest cities as part of the same trip, but that is what the past couple of days involved - and it was great to properly return to Birmingham for the first time since March. For some reason, I do not seem to get to Birmingham as often as I used to. With Wolverhampton now offering a lot more on the gigging front again, I seem to be there a lot more now, via Birmingham of course, and London still often offers more variety when it comes to places to stay. I always enjoy a trip to Birmingham, although my train did not get me there until mid-afternoon - meaning that there was not too much time to explore before heading out for the evening. Still, dinner in an excellent Chinese buffet was enjoyed before taking a brief break back at the hotel. The reason for the trip to Birmingham was a night at the city's O2 Academy with the Georgia-based southern rockers Blackberry Smoke - and band with a sizeable UK fanbase who seem to enjoy visiting these isles. I have not been able to see the band every time that they have come to the UK, but prior to Friday night I had previously seen them live three times - with the most recent time coming in March 2023, also in Birmingham. Due to the pandemic, that tour had previously been postponed - hence the band coming to the UK twice in as many years. They have had a busy few years, then, but their relatively quick return to the UK did not seem to put anyone off - as the O2 Academy was full again this time. Last year I stood, but I opted for a seat this year. I had sat up in the venue's balcony once before, but I think that last time I had sat on the portion towards the rear of the venue - whereas this time I was on the side. The safety barrier did restrict views of the stage somewhat, particularly the part of the stage closest to me, but the view was still reasonable despite this. In truth, the O2 Academy in Birmingham is just not a great venue all-round in my opinion. Due to the balconies being so low, anyone stood under them generally has a poor view - so everyone tries to cram themselves as close to the stage as possible rather than spreading out more. With views from the balconies being somewhat restricted, too, experiences at the venue are generally hampered somewhat - but I have learnt to put up with this over the years as, sadly, it is a venue which many bands choose to play. It is not always the best sound-wise, either, just to add to the venue's negatives - but, in fairness, the sound there on Friday was pretty good. There was a great atmosphere in the venue throughout, too, as everyone in attendance seemed really up for the show. As such, there was lots of singing from the crowd during the night - and that always helps to overcome any venue negatives.

Before Blackberry Smoke's set, though, the growing crowd were treated to 45 or so minutes of raw, bluesy rock from Tennessee-based singer and guitarist Bones Owens and his band. I did not know anything about Owens prior to the evening, but I found myself largely enjoying his old-school brand of percussive blues rock. If there is a criticism which could be levelled at Owens, it would be that after three or four songs it was clear exactly what he was all about. There was very little variety to be found throughout his set, but he was very good at what he did - and for 45 minutes I enjoyed his foot-stomping music which was a little reminiscent of early ZZ Top at times whilst retaining that real percussive punch that a lot of the early blues music was based around. As such, Owens' drummer spent quite a lot of the set reeling off simple bass drum and floor tom grooves - only breaking into a 'proper' beat once in a while, usually as a chorus kicked in. This did mean that a lot of the arrangements were very similar - but Owens' strong voice and fuzzy guitar playing helped to keep each track interesting. A few of the songs had pretty hooky choruses, but it was generally the grooves created by his riffs which helped the set to shine. It is the sort of music which is made to be played live and the large crowd generally seemed to enjoy what Owens and his band got up to on the stage. Unsurprisingly, too, there were quite a few guitar solos throughout his set - and he proved to be a capable blues player with a good amount of feel. Despite enjoying Owens' set, though, I cannot ever see myself listening to his music at home. It is music made for the stage and I am not sure that it would have the same impact whilst sitting on my sofa - and generally I am not a big listener to Owens' brand of blues in general. I can appreciate it when I see it, but generally that is where my relationship with such music ends. Nevertheless, though, I enjoyed Owens' set - and his foot-stomping music was a great way to get the night underway.

Following a fairly swift changeover, the lights went down and the six musicians which currently make up Blackberry Smoke took to the stage - and for the next two hours they impressed the large crowd with their infectious brand of southern and country rock. The band are known for shaking up the setlist from night to night - so it is never clear exactly what they are going to play. As usual, then, the setlist was a good mix of fan favourites, new material, and a couple of deeper cuts - and the band played quite a few songs which I had not seen them do live before. They opened with a couple of old favourites, though, with Six Ways to Sunday and the anthemic Good One Comin' On kicking things off. From the opening riff of the former, it was clear that the crowd were up for it - and there was plenty of singing throughout the night, which frontman Charlie Starr often encouraged. As always, too, the band really delivered. As much I enjoy many of the band's albums, live is where they truly shine. Each song rocks a little harder on stage - with even country pieces like Workin' for a Workin' Man hitting pretty hard early on, before the more melodic Pretty Little Lie proved to be the evening's first big sing-a-long. This vibe continued on through the muscular Waiting for the Thunder, too, with the crowd taking over the vocals during the verses - whilst Brandon Still (keyboards) later laid into his Hammond organ for a lengthy solo. It is hard to pick out highlights in truth, as essentially everything that was played sounded great. I was not the biggest fan of the band's latest album, but even those cuts came across well live - with Like It Was Yesterday and the acoustic-based Azalea, dedicated to late drummer Brit Turner, proving to be gentle moments in what was otherwise a powerful set. As is often the case, though, Sleeping Dogs felt like the set's centrepiece - as it was stretched out with a psychedelic intro and a portion of Charlie Daniels' Long Haired Country Boy was also included as part of the lengthy arrangement of the fan favourite. The band are not the most explosive when it comes to soloing, so these moments where the band stretch out live are always fun - with Starr and Benji Shanks (guitar/mandolin) shining during these moments in particular. These moments sat nicely alongside poppier moments with lots of singing including the whimsical Everybody Knows She's Mine and the acoustic sing-a-long stomp of Ain't Got the Blues. Laid back moments such as the excellent Till the Wheels Fall Off and the ever-present One Horse Town were good counters to these more upbeat moments - with the latter being another big sing-a-long as it always is. The main set then came to a close with the upbeat new number Little Bit Crazy - which was a fun number to go out on, with the band rocking out as the main set ended. A two-song encore followed, though, with Paul Jackson's (guitar/vocals) son Spencer joining the band on guitar for a powerful rendition of Black Sabbath's Fairies Wear Boots, which worked better than might be imagined, before a stretched out version of Ain't Much Left of Me brought the curtain down on an excellent night of live music. The setlist was:

Six Ways to Sunday

Good One Comin' On

Workin' for a Workin' Man

Hammer and the Nail

Pretty Little Lie

Waiting for the Thunder

Hey Delilah

Best Seat in the House

Like It Was Yesterday

Crimson Moon

Sleeping Dogs/Long Haired Country Boy [Charlie Daniels Band cover]

Azalea

Everybody Knows She's Mine

Till the Wheels Fall Off

Ain't Got the Blues

Old Scarecrow

7 O'Clock [The Quireboys cover]/Run Away from It All

One Horse Town

Little Bit Crazy

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Fairies Wear Boots [Black Sabbath cover w/ Spencer Jackson]

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

Despite having seen Blackberry Smoke relatively recently, it was great to see them again on Friday. With a new album having been released since the last time and the band's want to keep the setlist fresh, the show this year was very different from last year's - and the band always manage to create an infectious energy whenever they play anyway. It is hard not to get swept along by all the good vibes whenever Blackberry Smoke play live - and I imagine that I will be in attendance again next time they tour the UK.