Who
Lightning Seeds
Badly Drawn Boy
Where
Birmingham Town Hall
When
10th November 2022
Price
£32.50
Who with
No-one
Position
Towards the front
Comments
After the enforced break during 2020 after Supergrass in March and just four shows in 2021, I rounded out 2022 with my sixth concert, reversing a general reduction in the number of bands I see live each year. Also 2022 had been rather conservative by my standards, with The Divine Comedy, Pet Shop Boys and Madness hardly representing the cutting edge of modern music. Still, I was trying to age with some dignity, and everything I did attend turned out great. I certainly could never have imagined paying good money to watch Lightning Seeds, but with Badly Drawn Boy in support and the promise of the lovely Birmingham Town Hall venue, it proved an unmissable opportunity. As usual my efforts to get anyone to join were wasted, but it was noteworthy that I'd seen both acts before - once each in striped down support slots and once each headlining their own gigs. I snapped up a standing ticket and heard through the best songs a few times, with my focus and enthusiasm very much on Badly Drawn Boy. His show at St Paul's Church in Brum back in 2019 had been really memorable, and I'm surprised with myself for only awarding it a 7.5/10! Maybe a bit harsh, but I think I was trying to respect the overall hierarchy of talent, and I couldn't imagine Damon Gough earning more than an 8/10 from my harsh scoring system. I'd never attended a standing show at Birmingham Town Hall and had only ever seen it with the seats removed when I visited briefly for Heritage Weekend two months beforehand. The famous organ was uncovered for the heritage tour, and given it normally is covered by an idiotic black screen, it was fabulous to finally see it unveiled for once.

I ate at home before setting out, driving into Wolves thanks to predicted chaos on the trains, despite the latest round of strikes having been called off! I treated myself to a Twirl McFlurry on arrival after making a few initial notes on my phone for this review while on the slow train to Brum. The Frankfurt Market was already open and I walked through this to the venue. I spotted two of the penguins on the penguin sculpture trail that had been opened for Christmas, but sadly as it was dark and they were infested with children, I couldn't get any decent pics. I went straight into the venue with no hassle and just an e-ticket to prove my attendance. Once inside they didn't check it again, so I could have gone into the standing area even if I wasn't supposed to have done! There was a merchandise stand outside the entrance and the toilets/bar were ingeniously hidden in the basement. I treated myself to a really refreshing craft lager, but when I returned for the interval after Badly Drawn Boy the queue was just too long, so I left it at one beer. The venue felt really compact but it is a genuine landmark building in Birmingham, and it remained quiet for a long time. Clearly (and infuriatingly), this show was definitely not a sell out! As usual the stupid black screen covered the beautiful organ for no reason, with the very top of it just poking out. The stage was already set up for both acts, with some video screens too and Lightning Seeds written on the drum kit. I admired the room and tried to get some nice shots of the balcony, also being a bit cautious in case they were dicks about camera use. They really weren't though, the organisation was excellent, the one failing being a fuss beforehand about the start time being moved from 7pm to 8pm, undermined by an announcement that the show in fact would be starting at 7.45!

For Badly Drawn Boy fans who hadn't arrived early they'd have been utterly fucked off by this, but I really feel that few of the crowd were here tonight to watch him. The audience was noticeably sparser than it would be for the Seeds, and when Damon said he'd played here with a full band in 2015 for the 15th anniversary of The Hour Of Bewilderbeast, it was hard to imagine how he'd sold the space by himself. Most strange as it was advertised from the outset as a double header! Tonight Badly Drawn Boy was by himself and playing with a very chilled vibe, and I think there was something a bit more charming and relaxing knowing that the weight of the show wasn't resting on just his shoulders to pull off. His trademark tea cosy really did look like a tea cosy rather than a typical beanie hat, and he lamented having a bad day before wondering if it was because of his shiny new trainers. He also earned applause for declaring not to have drank alcohol for seven years, before clarifying this was why he was so tired and angry! Still, credit to the man for this achievement, and his humour and stage craft certainly seemed to not require a drop of alcohol to succeed. After an unknown opener was The Shining, and there were a few tunes I didn't know, but Damon Gough made good use of the shorter set and played all the important tunes he'd done back in 2019. Sadly the same omissions were made, but I still was enjoying myself, and even though the crowd didn't seem to be out in voice for him, they gave him a warm reception that a typical support act could not hope to earn without that prior familiarity.

Damon preceded Something To Talk About by talking of how he was trying to include the phrase "about a boy" into a song, and that he was the "cheap option" to soundtrack the movie! It featured lovely guitar and I shot my first video of the opening, which captured some great sound quality. All Possibilities was introduced as a tune from a brief period when he felt positive about things, and the introduction was a bit shambolic as an Argentine fan in the front row tried to engage him in conversation, before Damon told him to "quit while he was ahead!" A Minor Incident was also announced as being from About A Boy, and inspired by the suicide note that the fictional mother in that film wrote. I've not seem it for a very long time, but I'm thinking that I should give it a watch, and in fact I did a month after this! I shot my second video for Born In The U.K., which was blurry at the outset and a little thwarted by heads blocking my view. It was the same slowed-down version as performed in 2019, but this time without the commentary explaining he'd deliberately slowed it down from the record to make it sound more single-friendly. His water bottle featured an orange liquid that I presume to have been orange juice, and I encountered some issues with my videos cutting out. The thought struck me to reduce the film quality settings by one notch and that seems to have totally solved the issue. I wonder why that solution never dawned on me before! I shot another video for You Were Right, as Badly Drawn Boy took his time getting into it.

He said it was his only top ten hit, hitting the dizzy heights of number nine, and he left the serious whistling at the end to the audience. He got a few heckles and joked that some whistling aficionados in the crowd were angry with him for whistling so poorly, but it was great to hear this again! I shot a shorter video for Once Around The Block and it really is what Ed Sheeran should be doing in an alternate universe where he wasn't talentless and supremely punchable! I was trying to avoid shooting too many videos in case I hadn't fixed the problem, but this tune just sounds much more innovative than anything else Damon Gough has done which I'm aware of. Damon then wandered to the piano, accidentally venturing towards the drums first before correcting himself, as in his own words he is shit at drums! He gave a world premiere to a new song called Fly On The Wall I believe, and it sounded so rehearsed, fantastic and polished that it's hard to accept his assertion that he only played a total newbie in response to fan heckles. Badly Drawn Boy praised Lightning Seeds and said how much he was enjoying playing with them and just how many hits were on their set, and the short but delightfully sweet supporting slot drew to a close with Silent Sigh. Damon joked how the piano at the end "goes on forever", but this display of humour warmed any sceptics in the crowd up, and everyone clapped along to the piano bit that I still think is a take on "let's get ready to rumble"! Badly Drawn Boy left to strong applause and it was only the fact the room hadn't filled up so much that made me doubt that the fans were fully taking advantage of the quality of this double header concert, and in such a lovely venue too.

My phone is rubbish at taking zoom photos but I put my best zoomed-out shot of Badly Drawn Boy on Facebook along with a joke about capturing the moment he realises he hadn't fed the fish. Brilliant material, sadly not enough likes! And I did enjoy watching Damon Gough again, but the show would have been extraordinary if he threw in an unheard number like Pissing In The Wind. As it was, it was a somewhat more relaxed highlights set of his fab performance back in 2019. I headed downstairs for a loo visit and the bar queue was insane, so I headed upstairs and had no issues at all re-securing my position in the centre a few rows back from the front. I clocked My Sweet Lord being played while I waited, and a female roadie taking the lead tweaking the setup to prepare for Lightning Seeds. I made some more notes on my phone and was feeling rather hot in my thick coat, but that's always a downside of winter shows, and in the end I just held it in my arms. Wrapping it round my waist just feels a bit like a teenager at a music festival! It felt like no time at all before Ian Broudie and the gang bounced onstage to an intro tape that apparently was City Bright Stars, a song by theirs I understand. The first tune proper was the unknown new single Sunshine, but the exciting tone was then set with Ready Or Not! I initially thought Ian was wearing a Christmas jumper but in fact it was a pretty snazzy shirt. He still has all his unkempt hair and it felt natural rather than weird that he was wearing sunglasses indoors and at night!

I can't believe it's been over nine years since I last saw them supporting Blondie on Cannock Chase, but that had been Ian by himself, and this time it was very much a full-powered band performance. It's crazy to learn that Ian is 64 years old and actually played with a late 1970s punk band called Big In Japan alongside the future lead singer of Frankie Goes To Hollywood! Today he was enhanced by the energy from his younger band members, with a young lady quietly on keyboards at the back and an energetic young drummer too. To his left was another young man who I correctly surmised was his son Riley! To his right was Martyn Campbell, who was much closer to Ian in age and I read has been with Lightning Seeds since 1994. A pleasant surprise as I always thought it was just a trading name for Ian Broudie's music and Lightning Seeds didn't have any permanent members. I'm a little surprised to find them billed as THE Lightning Seeds on Wikipedia now, as I've always thought it was simply Lightning Seeds? After Change came All I Want, which was introduced as being the first song from their first album. I then shot my first video for the exciting Lucky You. The crowd were making some good "woohs" and I took advantage of my position near the front to shoot almost all my videos as close-ups of Ian, which also minimised the annoying heads in the way. There were one or two freakishly tall guys in front of me, one of whom eventually got promoted to the front row and was filming constantly. This perfect run of hits continued with Perfect and my second video. Even though I'd reduced the video quality, it seemed pretty good to me! Ian responded to a few heckles of "I love you" and definitely was in greatest hits mode, although at this stage I held next to no hope that Three Lions would be included.

Broudie was also very engaged with hand actions to the song lyrics and putting his arms in the air to encourage participation. I'd so often dismissed Lightning Seeds as indie by numbers, so to see them on top form and putting to rest the disappointment of their 1999 performance was really a treat! Alongside The Divine Comedy, I was righting a wrong and been treated with a far superior 2022 performance in return for my faith. A few unknown tunes followed, and I did feel a little guilty that I knew literally nothing that the band had produced since Three Lions 1998! This was pretty much 25 years of their existence which I had no knowledge of, and I hardly can dismiss it without any reasonable knowledge as a basis. Given there were so many years of tunes (but just three albums since Dizzy Heights in 1996), I felt fortunate to get to hear so many familiar hits. I shot a third shorter video for Sense, which was one of the highlights as I never quite realised how decent it was. The crowd were singing along and the excitement levels remained high for What If... Ian praised how lovely the venue was and encouraged us to shout louder. The fans were enthusiastic but polite, and it felt very pleasant to not to be subject to any pushing and shoving at all. A few lights were projected around the room at points and the video screens behind the band were utilised throughout on a fairly minimalist basis, such as some Jollification-era strawberries at one point. I shot another video for What If... and the drummer was singing along also, as well as a few guys to the left trying to provoke a moshpit and thankfully not having much luck!

I'm surprised to learn that You Showed Me is a Byrds cover, but it worked well and Ian worked in a few lines from Imagine and All You Need Is Love at the end. It's easy to forget that Ian Broudie is a proud Scouser, and not afraid to share his love of The Beatles. And in my view Lightning Seeds are a strong contender for the second greatest Liverpool band ever. I mean Cast and The Zutons are a bit cheesy, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, The Farm and The La's didn't sustain the hits and Gerry & The Pacemakers and The Searchers are just too old and not as relevant to a modern era, as well as being blatantly overshadowed by the dominance of John & Paul & George & Ringo at the time. Next up was the final set of new songs, with Emily Smiles being introduced as the new single. And I worked out what five songs I really wanted to hear, and I was absolutely not going to leave disappointed! In fact the set had kept all the biggest hits back, played plenty to keep us happy and also offered some newer and unknown tunes, making a mockery of these useless bands who somehow can't squeeze all their hits into a set. Unless you're Half Man Half Biscuit or Paul McCartney, it's nearly always possible, and yes... My criticism is very much aimed in the direction of Arctic Monkeys! Those self-indulgent gits could have learned a lot from this show, my faith in them is so low I refuse to watch them play again! Things stepped up several levels for Sugar Coated Iceberg as a few cartoony icebergs appeared on the video screens, and I shot another video. The lights were blue and dark at first, but it was a joy to see the crowd singing so enthusiastically to the intro, but less so when the guy in front started filming it and so I pretty much ended up just filming him filming it. Keep the filming at eye level guys, it's really not that hard...

Next up was Pure, which I've long retained a love and fascination for. It lives up to its title and just sounds like a breath of fresh air and a perfect moment of pop music. I shot another video and the false ending was a total treat, with Riley on guitar smiling as the crowd sang it back. He sure didn't seem embarrassed to be onstage with his Dad! I noted Ian wore a Lightning Seeds guitar strap, and changed guitars several times throughout the night as the lady roadie kept appearing onstage. Given the family affair with Riley, I wouldn't be at all surprised if the roadie was his wife! I unintentionally shot an extra-long 3 minute video of The Life Of Riley because the introduction was drawn-out so much. The band milked it and the crowd loved it, getting a chance to sing before Ian eventually came in himself. I zoomed out to capture the whole scene, and the band were encouraging some complex clapping motions to match the instrumentation too. Ian and Riley have been playing together for 13 years I believe, so a cheesy moment where Ian points out this song is about his guitarist was skipped, but Riley for sure seemed happy enough and not at all awkward to be playing a song written about him as a child. Great stuff! The band left the stage but quickly returned for the encore, and I was not surprised as the lights stayed down and the introduction of Marvellous built up!

I originally was quite dismissive of it as being nothing compared to Super Furry Animals and their moments of electronica, but it works nicely as a build-up, and much like the rest of Lighting Seeds I was warming up to it more and more. It seems unusual to be developing strong affections for such a 90s band, but I've always felt that the 1990s was a golden age, and not just because I was a teenager then! The song went down well and I really thought that would have been it, I just wasn't greedy enough to expect more. So my mind was blown when Lightning Seeds quickly launched into Three Lions! Damn, the five songs I'd identified as omitted had not only all been performed, but in a row. What a finale! Ian changed the lyrics from 30 years of hurt to all these years of hurt, and I shot a fabulous video that (typically) didn't get as many likes as it should have done when I uploaded it to Facebook. Ian preceded the song with a brief rant about the insanity of a World Cup in Qatar and "the world's gone crazy", and perhaps in expressing my opinion that I wasn't going to be watching this World Cup and that music is better than football wasn't accepted by everyone and deprived me of some deserved likes. But it's their loss, I said I achieved a greater high from this show than England winning the World Cup, and a good show has the excitement levels of a goal being scored but every second, and the only way to lose is if you have bad taste or bad luck. It's certainly much more my thing as I don't feel I need disappointment to appreciate success, I'd just rather enjoy an area of life where things so often go my way!

Lightning Seeds didn't grudgingly play Three Lions at all, but Ian extended the outro and put his hands in the air to encourage participation. It felt extraordinary just how crowd-pleasing he was tonight, and such a contrast to their 1999 set! The audience gave them good applause but astonishingly weren't singing "it's coming home" on the way out, which is bizarre as it's a rare moment where doing that would have been justifiable and actually not twattish. Really weird, but the fans were just a bit too polite and were here as music fans for sure rather than football fans. I originally thought my video of Three Lions was messed up but it turned out my PC just needed updates, so that's a relief. Apparently Lighting Seeds hadn't played Three Lions in Glasgow, which I guess is understandable, but otherwise its been a staple of their set on this tour. I was taken by surprise to see a 2022 Christmas-themed re-release of Three Lions making its way onto YouTube the day before I wrote this up, with Baddiel & Skinner and Ian Broudie interacting with their 1996 selves in a fun music video. It's a bit silly for sure, but I love the humour and if it wasn't for what a shower of shit a World Cup in Qatar is, I'd be hoping harder that this goes to number one. I stepped outside and enjoyed a small/strong beer at Brewdog while waiting a randomly long time for the next train back to Wolves. There were delays and it was frustrating, but I made it back home in a kind of acceptable time. This set was as close to perfect as I could expect, with What You Say and Brain Drain being the only omissions from the Like You Do greatest hits compilation. I wrote some notes on my phone and got round to writing this up the following weekend. It feels ridiculous that I was seeing such a great show alone, but I won this round, and I have company for most of my 2023 shows ahead. After the chaos of Coronavirus, 2022 was a strong step in the right direction, and with such a storming performance and double header, I have to surprise myself and reward this gig an 8.5/10 score!
Setlist (Badly Drawn Boy)
This Song
The Shining
This Is That New Song
Something To Talk About
All Possibilities
A Minor Incident
Born In The U.K.
You Were Right
Once Around The Block
Fly On The Wall
Silent Sigh
n.b. This setlist was from another gig, but it's either correct or similar
Setlist (Lightning Seeds)
Sunshine
Ready Or Not
Change
All I Want
Lucky You
Perfect
Great To Be Alive
See You In The Stars
Feeling Lazy
Sense
What If...
Waiting For Today To Happen
You Showed Me
Losing You
Emily Smiles
Whole Wide World
Sugar Coated Iceberg
Pure
The Life Of Riley
Marvellous
Three Lions

Mark: 8.5/10