Dublin four-piece indie-alternative rock band Inhaler return to the UK`s second city on their `Open Wide World Tour` in support of their `Open Wide` album which was released last Friday. I last saw this quartet in October 2021 at this location`s sister venue across the other side of the city.
We enjoy an interesting choice of music piped through the pa system with The Handsome Family and their haunting song `Far from Any Road` which was played during the opening credits of the American anthology crime drama television series True Detective, as the band take to the stage.
Tonight was to be a balanced blend of old and new tracks from all three albums that the band have in their canon. The wonderfully catchy `My Honest Face` from the band`s debut album about getting lost and finding yourself again ignites this sweltering audience. The opening track on new album `Eddie In The Darkness` follows and it`s a fairly dreamy offering. There`s a rolling rhythmic beat to another new number `A Question of You` a love song before the introspective `Totally` has the crowd swaying and singing along.
`Even Though` from the latest release is given it`s live debut as the anthemic `When It Breaks` lifts the pace along with the cadenced `Little Things`.
Songs like `My King Will Be Kind` had the faithful screaming the lyric “ I fu***ng hate that bitch” back at the band and `Love Will Get You There` had all and sundry in raptures. But for me the highlights of the night and home stretch were `X-Ray` a new fairly experimental number and `Just To Keep You Satisfied` with its big expansive sound where singer Elijah briefly ventured into the audience.
The encore included a couple of cuts from the latest release with title track `Open Wide` and `Your House` with `It Won’t Always Be Like This` sandwiched in-between which had this frenzied crowd bouncing up and down.
Singer Elijah Hewson while acknowledging and interacting with fans has minimal chat between songs unlike his father U2 singer Paul David Hewson, a.k.a. Bono. Tonight`s eighty odd minute set was a mix of new, old and some numbers that seemed to light the touch paper which sent this packed audience into a euphoric state and that is what most have come here for tonight. The UK tour is near enough sold out and the band then heads off to North America. As I left the building tonight I thought that maybe this was the last time I’d witness then in such an intimate venue, well as intimate as three thousand can be.
I`m sure bigger venues await the band`s return to Birmingham next time as the singer`s father`s band said, for Inhaler it looks like there`s No Line on the Horizon.
PHOTOS: Lewis Evans / @lewsvans
