Who
Dodgy
The Supernaturals
Support
Chris Helme
Where
Birmingham O2 Institute
When
3rd June 2023
Price
£25.00
Who with
Nick, Tom
Position
Towards the front, then towards the back
Comments
As time goes by, and also thanks to that glorious show of theirs back in 2019, my appreciation of The Supernaturals just grows and grows. I'd recorded a 32 track best of inspired by their 2019 set, including 20 hits followed by a bonus selection of 12 b-sides, and this exercise had deepened my love of the band. Also I'd really got into some of the tunes from the 360 album as a result of this compilation, so no part of me saw them as a mere nostalgia act with nothing new to add to the mix. It only really hit me after this show that The Supernaturals are arguably the best band going now, as even my best intervening gigs since 2019 - Pet Shop Boys, Kraftwerk, Blur and Half Man Half Biscuit - were difficult to elevate above them. There's a strong shout for The Supernaturals to be even better, but at the very least on the same level. As far as I'm aware this was their first show in Birmingham since 2001, which took place before 9/11 had even happened! The shit reaction of the Birmingham crowd to a blinding show took me years to get over, with Birmingham struggling to redeem its reputation in my eyes. Sadly The Supernaturals were now having to play second fiddle to Dodgy, but tickets were £25 and I actually got friends to join me. It was an ideal Saturday night and was even advertised as a triple bill, with Chris Helme from The Seahorses completing the line-up.

Although I had little desire to watch Dodgy after their mediocre show in 1999 without Nigel Clark, I certainly wasn't planning to storm out after The Supernaturals, and was going to try and enjoy them too. Much like SFA supporting Noel Gallagher, it's much too closed-minded to walk out, but it did make me concerned that The Supernaturals wouldn't get the reception they deserved. I heard through Free Peace Sweet just the once and saw it was a bloated and overlong work that didn't offer much beyond its four fab singles. Dodgy were declaring that it would be played in full, but apart from the guarantee of a few hits like Good Enough that didn't bode well! But I did listen to The Supernaturals again and again, and also tried to avoid glimpsing their tour setlist on their Facebook page. I couldn't help spotting that the opening song was rotating and that Lazy Lover was dispatched early, but otherwise I kept the setlist a secret from myself. The trains were rudely on strike again but luckily Tom was happy to give me a lift into Birmingham, and we headed out before 4pm. We parked up in Digbeth in a very tight space and met Nick at Brewdog, where I quickly overlapped everyone with two pints of Punk IPA! After a few cool selfies and pics taken by a guy who was quite arty and gave us high and low shots of us, we wandered into Bonehead nearby. We'd wanted to book but it wasn't possible, but luckily got the table by the window for some fabulous chicken. I enjoyed a can of beer and couldn't remember if to order breast with wings or thighs with legs. I know I made the wrong choice last time I was here and think I repeated my mistake! It was delicious anyway, and we then ventured a few meters to Cherry Reds where I enjoyed one more beer and an utterly delicious white chocolate biscoff cake. Amazing, and the sun was appreciated too!

The doors to the Institute had opened at 7pm and we headed there for a little after 7.30pm, and I didn't encounter too much hassle taking my camera in. One bouncer asked the other if it was allowed, they said yes, and that was that. I checked in advance thanks, and in any case unless I'm taking in a gun or a grenade it's none of your business what I have on me! Even though I didn't need to drive back I definitely didn't want to be drunk for the show, and the promise of piss poor concert beer made it easy to take a step back and resist. I was wearing my 1997 Supernaturals t-shirt but was a bit miffed that the same design was now onsale at The Supernaturals merch stand! I wonder if they saw me wearing it in London and were inspired to bring it back, which I think is genuinely possible as it has aged beautifully and I don't quite understand why it has lasted so much better than so many other tops, which are still wearable but noticeably tatty. Even my beloved grey Furrymania t-shirt is looking a bit tired now, and that one is four years younger. As Tom said, it was good that I could still fit into it! I did comment that now it was onsale again that no one would know that mine was an original, but I know, and that has to be good enough for me. We were quick to pass the merch store and go upstairs as I'd already reviewed the options online and realised I already had everything that The Supernaturals were selling that I wanted. I'd even purchased the Darkstar cassette reissue online already! Rather than a lovely paper ticket or a practical e-ticket, I'd been forced to download an app for admission, and outside it just didn't scan, and when they scanned it again inside I suspect it also didn't work but they were sick of it and just waved us in anyway. Very annoying and I uninstalled the app before the gig was through, and can see why it has such bad reviews.

Tom had said that they were practically giving away tickets before the show and feared that it wouldn't be busy, but there were plenty of people here. As far as I could tell the top balcony was closed, and even if more people physically could have squeezed into the stalls, it wouldn't have been good to have crammed us in. We secured a spot around the middle and Chris Helme was already a few minutes into his set. First impressions weren't great, he was just one guy with glasses and a guitar sitting down and strumming quietly. But as the show progressed he won most of us over with his quiet charm and charisma. Love Me And Leave Me and You Can Talk To Me seemed a bit familiar, and many of the crowd seemed to know Love Is The Law and were happy to sing along. This was a good sign for The Supernaturals that the audience were responding so well to the first support, and I shot my first video here. Chris said that he was responding to a fan request by then playing Suicide Drive, and although I don't know it, it came across as polished and very much deserving of a place in the set. In fact Ooh La La was the only non-Seahorses song he played, but sadly it was a Faces cover I didn't know rather than an attempt at the Goldfrapp classic! He finished with Blinded By The Sun and I shot another video, but I only know it from the chorus and for its great music video. The fans seemed to know it better than me, but it was a strong way to finish. The Seahorses were always an interesting one, offering a genuine bit of credibility and talent to what could have been a pointless vehicle for John Squire to ride before The Stone Roses reunited. It's surprising that their final single had been the strong You Can Talk To Me before they argued and split up, but even though they are a bit too landfill indie for me, there was some noteworthy material here and I'm glad to have now heard these songs live.

The Supernaturals were due onstage at 8.25pm based on their Facebook posts from the shows so far, and had shared a pic of their soundcheck earlier too. We moved forwards at my insistence and I spotted the bassist and James quietly soundchecking for themselves. Just about obscure enough to get away with it! There was an S on the drumkit much as there'd been in 2019, and this echoed the D on Dodgy's drumkit later. The Free Peace Sweet banner was already on view but wasn't lit up until Dodgy appeared, and The Supernaturals appeared officially without too much ceremony and launched into Please Be Gentle With Me! My money had been on Everest to seize the opportunity to namecheck Birmingham and repeat their excellent start last time, but I was more than happy to hear a tune I'd never heard live before. It actually made me doubt the wisdom of skipping it from my Supernaturals compilation, but I'd pre-empted this by playing a few extra tunes (including this) as well as the 32 tracks of the Greatest Hits earlier. Ridiculous that there was so much quality that I had to leave some classics out, but there's a good reason I hold The Supernaturals in such high regard, and I stand by my assertion that this gig was a little like The Beatles supporting Cast! Next up was the wonderful Lazy Lover as I shot my first video of the intro. James was rocking out with the guitarist and looking healthy. He was wearing black with a top over a t-shirt, and I think he commented it was too warm yet he chose to not remove a layer anyway! He joked that their usual bassist couldn't be with them so they got Doc from Back To The Future to fill in instead, but despite the crazy long grey hair, I could deduce that it was still regular bassist Mark Guthrie under there. He looked totally different but the way he was mouthing along to the words and looking at us had the same vibe as before.

Tragically the excellent Derek had passed away in 2022, and The Supernaturals had reformed in 2012 with their actual original line-up of four. That meant very original drummer Gavin Crawford rather than Alan Tilston who'd been with them throughout most of their fame, and Ken on keyboards wasn't an original member anyway. With Derek no longer with us (and sadly missed at the 2019 show too), the band still had three of their four original members present and correct. There was a photographer in the pit briefly and James was smiling, and it was probably me singing over my video rather than others. But I was determined to be the biggest fan there regardless of what anyone else was doing, although I'm also pleased to report that the crowd were much warmer and seemed to genuinely know some songs, and there seemed to be a few more hardcore fans in the midst besides me. Next up was Horse Song, which surprisingly was the only post-reformation tune played tonight. I shot another short video, this time zooming out and filming the whole band. The next time I redid The Supernaturals greatest hits I resolved to add this to the mix, as originally I'd tried to but just couldn't justify elevating it over the other classics. But now I think I was starting to see why the band liked it and always seemed to play it. Personally I'd have gone with Bird Of Luck - the standout from the album of the same name - but both work a treat. James asked if the band sounded ok and said that their sound engineer wasn't with them tonight. He described an almost certainly fictitious story about him having a medical emergency and having to admit over the phone to the emergency services that he'd recently had Botox surgery done to his rectum! It was hilarious and indicative of the imagination of the band, but it was perhaps closer to the truth when he said he was with kids today, before again joking that he'd be ensuring their mic sound quality is up to scratch!

Next up was the wonderful I Wasn't Built To Get Up and my video captured James laughing and the crowd singing. Also the keyboards were upfront and sounding great, but The Supernaturals were very much presenting themselves as a rock/pop band now, and keyboards usually fade behind loud guitars as the tune gets going, as they did here. It's a great song and still a mystery why it hadn't been a smash hit. The What We Did Last Summer album had been entirely overlooked in 2019 and I was a bit saddened by that, so it was a delight to hear its title track tonight. I shot another video amid purple lights and James waiting for his moment to start singing. It was quite electronic and slow, but I'm pleased that the band hadn't totally disowned their third album. There's a lot to love about it, even it nothing could beat their opening duo of classic LPs. But I respect them for trying something different. James asked who'd seen them before and there were a few cheers, and he spoke about seeing Dodgy at King Tuts in Glasgow in their early days. He couldn't believe that they were now playing together after so many years, and it seems that this tour was the result of longstanding friendship and mutual appreciation. Perhaps the highlight though was Love Has Passed Away, which after 26 years may finally have escaped the shadow of the opening trio of singles from It Doesn't Matter Anymore. James left his guitar behind and prowled the stage like a more talented Frank Sinatra, unable to resist the urge to be that bit more of a showman by tossing his mic from one hand to another. Again I don't know how much of the crowd singing my video captured was mine, but it probably was all or most of it. It was a spectacular moment and even though I'm sure many of the crowd didn't really know these songs, I'd like to think that everyone was appreciating the show.

Another surprise was Monday Mornings, and James presumably decided that the high-pitched vocals were too much for him now so instead went deep and ramped up the guitars to make it sound more like Joy Division! It was a delight and a surprise and what could have been the 2019 set shorn of a few less popular tunes was genuinely adding a new and interesting dimension to the experience. My appreciation of the band was just growing and growing! I shot a video of the band rocking out amid purple lights for the wonderful Sheffield Song, and the whoop in my video may well have been me! The keyboardist was doing the backing vocals and - although not quite as thrilling as last time - this still was a wonderful moment. James was kind enough to offer his keyboard player a shoulder massage to help him through the introduction to The Day Before Yesterday's Man, as my video captured James smiling and sarcastically bowing towards him and saying "take it away maestro". And what a tune, it just rocks so hard that I doubt anyone wasn't blown away! And they followed this with presumed set closer Smile! This video was the one that went on Facebook afterwards (just as it had been chosen in 2019), and the quiet bit in the middle was most dramatic as James held his arms out on the "sarcasm in my smile" bit. The crowd genuinely seemed to know it and I'm fairly confident that it wasn't just me singing along very loudly. Absolutely extraordinary! And I thought that was the end and that I was pushing my luck to shout-out for Everest. I did wonder if the band accepted my request, but found out afterwards that this was the regular closer on this tour anyway.

And what a way to finish, even though it made this rather long for a support slot. Dodgy seemed to understand that The Supernaturals deserved the longer time to shine, and James prefaced the song with a shout-out for Derek amid a rare serious moment. I actually shot two videos as I wanted to record up to the garden gnomes line and then to capture them singing Birmingham, and to my shock and horror they didn't say it! I wonder, maybe they thought it was too obvious, but I'm a bit gutted by that. But at the same time this set was just spectacular, and instead of the namecheck they sped up the ending after the "you ain't seen nothing yet" line and lifted my enthusiasm to another level. Absolutely unbelievable! Unusually after such a good reception the band left the stage quickly and with pretty much no goodbyes, which was a surprise as they seemed to be enjoying themselves. Maybe they're just not big on goodbyes? I turned to my friends who agreed they'd been amazing, although I doubt they'd have dared to claim otherwise in my presence anyway! Apart from Bird Of Luck, I noted that Edinburgh enjoyed a longer set that also included Dung Beetle and Stammer. In Manchester they'd played new single Roy Wouldn't, which I'd heard a few times and was gradually getting into and starting to appreciate. At Leestock Festival they'd opened with Submarine Song, and it was a shame to not hear Honk Williams, Let Me Know or Idiot again also. I could reel off more songs, but The Supernaturals had absolutely smashed it and given that this was a support slot rather than a long-deserved 3 hour Wembley headline show, there was only so much that they could play. It was just blinding and an impossible standard for Dodgy to compare to, and maybe I'm over-excited but I just don't remember feeling this thrilled by any band I'd seen live since the last time I'd watched The Supernaturals.

We headed out for a loo break, glancing downstairs and seeing the keyboard player on the merch store. All three bands were pushing the sales tonight, and clearly were seeing merchandise as a key revenue stream for the evening. Tom saw one of The Supernaturals in the loos and Nick saw the guitarist in the smoking area, and I later spied Mark Guthrie slipping past me into the venue as we exited afterwards. But James was nowhere to be seen, which was a surprise! We then went back inside and got drinks, with me enduring a terribly poured pint of Shipyard in a plastic glass. Yuck, and this experience was not making me want to spend money at gig bars again. The plastic cup is arguably as big a turn off as the terrible beer, but given the way crowds behave I have to concede that giving out actual glasses just isn't a sensible option at most shows. We secured our spot towards the back and to the right, just escaping the overhanging balcony but appreciating that you can see bands perfectly well here from the back. I wasn't inclined to head back up front for Dodgy and it didn't seem like the others wanted to either. The vibe was 1990s and the DJing matched it, but all I remember now was Chasing Rainbows and I Am The Resurrection, which shockingly was truncated to allow the five members of Dodgy to head to the stage! They were playing Free Peace Sweet and I couldn't resist checking the album listing on my phone, and after the intro was In A Room! I shot a video capturing the backdrop being lit up, and I'd joked earlier that it was a real tree and that the top of it was poking up out of the venue. It sounded good and we'd long enjoyed this as a classic Blast Off tune, albeit one that was only played as we kept requesting it. I mean it's pretty good, but after The Supernaturals it just wasn't on the same level.

Nigel had long hair and seemed right at home, and it did make me wonder why he'd left when I saw them in 1999, and why the band had chosen to limp on rather than just taking a break at the time? The other guy was in sunglasses and the drummer was fairly quiet at the back, at one point taking the mic but being completely inaudible with a very strange and unclear voice. Weird, I always thought he was a well-spoken and charismatic member, but with Nigel back in the mix he didn't have much to do, and I'm shocked to read he is a radio presenter. Maybe he'd lost his voice, it seemed quite amiss? I was doubtful when Dodgy claimed it was a homecoming show, but apparently Nigel is from Redditch so there was some truth to this claim. You've Gotta Look Up is one of the album b-sides that charms reasonably, but it was surpassed by If You're Thinking Of Me. My video captured the band giving the space for the crowd to sing the chorus and raise their beers to the air, and it's definitely a pretty one. However, my Wikipedia checking had noted that Good Enough was next up, and so I was able to record it from the start! It sounded great and Nigel was strutting around with his tambourine, before skipping some of the lines such as "send me to hell" to let us sing them. I still remember the annoyance of 1999 Dodgy not being arsed to play it and I'm glad to have crossed this song off my list. Also it's interesting to hear 27 year old tunes and note that the band have aged well, and are far from being ageing rockers. This is the equivalent of hearing the stars of the early 1960s in the late 1980s, which demonstrated both that the music of the 1990s has real staying power, and also that the bands were still young enough to genuinely entertain and not come across as embarrassing nostalgia acts.

At one point according to my photos Chris Helme appeared to play with them but I have no memory of this, and I shot another video for Found You. It was the last decent tune on the album before it descended into a barrage of overlong b-sides, and given that it was now 10.15pm I was getting quite worried that they'd have little time to play an encore. I took advantage of the fairly simple path to the bar to get myself a full fat Pepsi as they'd ran out of Pepsi Max Cherry, and compared to the awful beer it was very satisfying and much appreciated. The Dodgy guitarists swapped places at one point, with Andy Miller venturing to our side and the other guy (I think Stuart Thoy, but neither he or the keyboard player were original members) heading to the left side. And time went on with only the pretty but overlong One Of Those Rivers of any note. There was some seriously turgid stuff on Free Peace Sweet, and this just wasn't an album that anyone cared about hearing live in full! The last song Homegrown came as a relief as Dodgy declared that they'd forgotten to put the title track of Homegrown on the album itself, echoing the fact I'd earlier repeated that The Supernaturals had done the same thing with it Doesn't Matter Anymore! But it was just silly now, it was almost 11pm and the anticipated second set of 6-8 other tunes just wasn't possible. Considering the lack of time, the band were very relaxed, thanking us for coming out and showing their support for the striking train drivers, which I just can't agree with as they are horribly overpaid and it's disgusting that they can hold the country to ransom and cause such inconvenience. Unions should protect the vulnerable rather than bully the country for even more money to the already exceptionally well paid, and it's infuriating that we can't just introduce driverless trains, sack them all and pass on the savings to us all with lower fares. Yeah right...

However Dodgy did match my mood by saying Fuck The Tories, even turning it into a song to the tune of something familiar that I sadly can't put a name to. It was a top moment after a tedious few songs, and I'm glad to have got it on camera along with the intro to Staying Out For The Summer! My camera did cut out after the first couplet as I'd been recording too long so I shot another, but at least Dodgy didn't infuriate everyone by ending weakly. They did an energised take on their best hit and it was great to hear it performed properly with the original singer. The band let us sing some of it too, and as it was now 11pm I was rather surprised when they said that they were going to play Grassman by audience request! I shot another video and it was appropriate that the lights were green. It was cool, chilled and atmospheric, and the band strangely topped it off with a bit of Knockin' On Heaven's Door! The crowd applauded and the band left, plugging the chance to meet them in person at the merch store. The drummer made another similarly unclear pronouncement and we slowly made our way out and down the stairs. We all resisted the moderate urge to check out the goods on sale, and made the short walk back to the car park. We said our goodbyes to Nick and the car park was now pretty empty, and we quite easily made our way out of the city despite a few crazed drivers and complicated roundabouts. I made an idle comment to Tom that I don't feel hungry after gigs but would hardly complain if he insisted on McDonald's and we nearly ended up going as we were both too polite to say neither of us genuinely wanted to go. My point was that I wouldn't have been horrified by the idea, but I definitely saw it as unnecessary yet I'm aware that many others love their late night meals.

We'd blasted through many of The Supernaturals greatest hits courtesy of Spotify on the drive in, and neither of us could have predicted that we'd end up enjoying a few tunes by The Hives on the way back, commenting how unusual it is that they still feel so exciting 21 years later. Yes, they're not a band to change your life, but they're tremendous fun and this little experience made me curious to see them again. They were supporting Arctic Monkeys, and the Sheffield lads had finally taken their heads out of their arses to open their sets with a full rendition of Mardy Bum! If it was contractual I'd be there, but I'm not prepared to risk the disappointment of their not playing it. Nope. Tom dropped me off and we exchanged a few texts before I went to bed at midnight. I was buzzing too much though so heard a few Supernaturals tunes very loudly on my phone headphones before trying to sleep. I changed my alarm and am pleased with myself for still making my usual morning swim. I'd taken 280 photos but as usual few of them turned out great, and my Sunday whizzed by unexpectedly. I made a few notes and achieved a few things but wrote up this review fully on the Tuesday - 3 days after the show. That's pretty good going for me! I'd also purchased tickets to see Pulp in London in July and Gogol Bordello at the Wulfrun in December, so was feeling pretty good about live music. If I did end up seeing 13 gigs/festivals in 2023 for example, it would be my highest tally since 2009. It's rather strange as I'm still far behind the curve with new music, and it's more a matter of opportunity rather than any conscious extra effort to attend more live concerts. As this show was a unique occasion where the gulf between the support band and "main event" is too large to fairly represent it with a single score, I'll have to give it my first ever split score. The Supernaturals were pushing 9.5/10, I can't bring myself to award them lower than a 9. And given the dross, Dodgy just don't deserve more than a 7/10. I seem to have given Metronomy that same rating and Dodgy sure as hell weren't better than them! As a bill though, tonight was great, and Dodgy did as good as they could. But who could live up to Scotland's finest?
Setlist (Chris Helme)
Hello
Love Me And Leave Me
You Can Talk To Me
Love Is The Law
Suicide Drive
Ooh La La
Blinded By The Sun
Setlist (The Supernaturals)
Please Be Gentle With Me
Lazy Lover
Horse Song
I Wasn't Built To Get Up
What We Did Last Summer
Love Has Passed Away
Monday Mornings
Sheffield Song
The Day Before Yesterday's Man
Smile
Everest
Setlist (Dodgy)
Intro
In A Room
Trust In Time
You've Gotta Look Up
If You're Thinking Of Me
Good Enough
Ain't No Longer Asking
Found You
One Of Those Rivers
Prey For Drinking
Jack The Lad
Long Life
U.K.R.I.P.
Homegrown
Staying Out For The Summer
Grassman

Mark: 9.0/10 for The Supernaturals, 7.0/10 for Dodgy