This event had almost become an annual affair as all three bands had played together at The Sunflower Lounge in Birmingham`s city centre in July of 2023 and July of 2024 but i`m not sure why they took a year off last year but anyway they`re back together and at the Hare & Hounds this time, in the leafy suburbs of Kings Heath.
Mega Fishy Four an indie-rock tribute quartet dedicated to the 1980s/90s underground alternative band Mega City Four kick us off tonight. They begin with `Thanx` with four cuts from this evening`s thirty odd minute set coming from MC4`s sophomore album `Who Cares Wins` with `Rose Coloured`, `Messenger`, `Mistook` and `Revolution`. There`s a couple of singles with `Iron Sky` and `Shivering Sand` before closing out with `Stop` from the only MC4 album that I did definitely buy `Sebastopol Rd`. This was a delightfully uplifting slice of melodic indie pop showcasing a flavour of what MC4 songs offered which was optimism along with disillusionment but shared with a hint of reality. Mega Fishy Four`s fanbase were out in numbers tonight and the band have threatened to return for another gig here in the future, which if it happens, will be a gig I’d encourage you to attend. I must admit i`m not a big fan of cover bands but these guys are a little different and i`m happy to make an exception.
Next up were London based punk/melodic hardcore band Dealing With Damage, whose latest album `The London Particular` was released in February. There was no messing around as this quintet comprising James Sherry, Andy Myers, Owen Cox, Ed Wenn and Steve Cox swept through their thirty odd minute set as if last orders at the bar had just been called. They open with a couple of numbers from their debut album `Ask More Questions` with `The People I See` and `Slow Shadow` which for me had a rhythmic r&b Jam (the band) like ambience. The remainder of the set was drawn from the latest release `The London Particular`.
`Wrong Sometimes` is fast paced with organ keys from Steve Cox who was tucked into the corner of the stage and almost out of sight. The latest single, the bass driven `Head Full Of Feedback` is shared, which was quickly followed by `Alienation` a more reflective offering which has an underlying power and the quite anthemic `Be Careful` with its warning to be careful of what you desire. `Nickey Nickey` is a rolling rhythmic tribute to Nickey Barclay a member of Fanny one of the primary all-female rock groups with its ba ba ba ba harmonies.
The fellas leave us with one final number with `Pre-Dawn Grey Sky Blues` which is a kind of heads down punk tinged belter which flies along but does have brief brooding passages on route. Sadly this thirty minute set seemed far too short but understandably there were three bands performing this evening.
Closing out tonight are Midway Still who these days are Paul Thomson (guitar & vocals), Dec Kelly (drums), and Russell Lee (bass & backing vocals). The trio delivered a blistering eighty-minute set of driving rhythms and soaring choruses but did have some moments when they were arsing about rather than sticking to the pre-arranged setlist. A fair section of tonight`s show included numbers from albums such as `Dial Square`, `Life’s Too long`, `Note To Self` and `Always Ends`. Most of the tracks in the set were three or four minute enticing earworms like the racing `Claret`, jangly `Daynight`, alluring `Kemper` and reflective `What You Said`.
A couple of new numbers came with `Nothing in Your Way` with its singalong chorus of “takes all night, takes all day” and `Could Have Been` both from the recently released `What if…?` EP. There was a request for `Note To Self` which the guys sated along with a few older cuts such as `Fuck you, `Me In You`, `No Guarantees` and `Counting Days`
The gig ended as usual with the bands interpretation of My Bloody Valentine`s `You Made Me Realise` with `Come Down` sandwiched in between from the band`s debut album `Dial Square`. The trios bandcamp page has the strap line of Midway Still – Hairy, noisy, slightly depressed, slightly repressed, often drunk, introverted, immature, lazy, so very, very lazy, sensitive to a fault, weak-minded, bitter, shy-yet-attention-seeking, and wholly unsuccessful since 1990. Yay! This pretty much sums the band up to be fair.
If you want an evening where you get some delightfully guitar led melodic earworms along with discussions on adding sugar to pizza, accidental jazz while the singer is haranguing a young fella from the North of England in a Snuff t shirt you should have been at last night`s show but from what I hear it`s pretty much par for the course every night. See you next July if not before.
