GIG NUMBER ONE HUNDRED AND TWELVE

Who
Robyn
Support
Sam Sparro
Where
Birmingham Academy
When
7th June 2008
Price
£11.00
Who with
Alex
Position
In the middle
Comments
If I'd had known that Robyn would be following Sir Paul McCartney and preceding Lord Brian Wilson I might not have bothered. She just doesn't belong amongst such illustrious company. However, I knew I wouldn't have to go alone and was mildly interested in her music. She seemed a spirited female performer in the mould of Roisin Murphy who I'd known about for ten years and who had randomly become a massive star after years in the wilderness. Also, it was a Saturday night and somehow only cost £11. Indeed, how could I refuse? It was her first date of a short U.K. tour and Robyn's the type who usually only plays a night in London then goes off to play the continent so a West Midlands gig felt like a rare opportunity. My trip to Chennai in India had stopped me from listening to her music as much as I'd hoped but I had the gist of her back catalogue by the night of the show. I'd spent the days before furiously watching the first three Indiana Jones films in preparation for viewing Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull. We found a good cinema in Birmingham a long walk from the centre and arrived in good time despite cutting it fine with the trains. I'd waited 19 years for that film so it was no surprise that it completely overshadowed Robyn and put me in a good enough mood that I quite happily paid £7.10 for nachos and a drink! We then went to a Wetherspoons for a cheap and quick meal, observed that Euro 2008 had started, not that it mattered when the home nations weren't present, and arrived at the Academy at around 6:15pm, fifteen minutes after doors had opened. The day had been a masterclass in good timing and enjoyment, and Robyn was only a footnote to the evening. But I guess as I've taken it upon myself to review every gig I go to and not every movie I should move on and talk about the show!

The queue outside for Robyn was the largest annoyance of the evening. It made me wonder just how so many people could fit into the Academy and I put it down to the refusal of security to hurry up and also there being a big name support act. I'd never seen a queue like it in Birmingham and, to confuse matters further, the venue wasn't even that full when we got in! We wandered over from the left side and got into a good position as the crowd filled in around us. I had no idea who Sam Sparro was but as he was in the top ten my hopes weren't that high! He strolled onstage in what looked like a blue plastic bag that you'd wear over yourself on the log flume at Alton Towers and played a song to ridiculous screams. He then played some more songs. The guy looked like a complete tosser and sounded like a cross between Scissor Sisters and The Lighthouse Family. It was mildly interesting to hear a contemporary pop act in a live environment but even though the sheen of an over-produced record had been eliminated he still sounded pretty soulless. He apologised for cancelling his last show in Birmingham and the main downer besides his cheesy smile and poor music was the insane reaction the crowd afforded him. I hate to sound negative and cynical but after seeing Gogol Bordello, Kaiser Chiefs and Sir Paul McCartney it's very hard to show interest in something so utterly inferior. There was a silly moment where he took off his plastic bag to reveal a vest to many screams, but he was hardly Peter Andre, either in his physique or by his musical talent! By the time he reached his hit Black & Gold the crowd went mad. I did recognise it but was still left cold to it all. A very poor start to the show. The crowd were an unexpected bunch. I'd predicted there'd be lots of kids but there were less than at, say, Get Cape or Nine Black Alps. In fact most seemed to be students and their reaction to Sam Sparro left me doubting their taste very much! I wonder how many of them were here simply because they liked With Every Heartbeat?

Robyn arrived onstage at a very early 8pm due to the 9:30pm curfew to many cheers and an unknown song. She looked good despite her unusual haircut, and I'm pleased to have recognised a healthy proportion of her set! She burst into Sensual Eruption by Snoop Dogg at one point, and delivered feisty renditions of Handle Me and Crash And Burn Girl. There was a definite sense of girl power going around the building! She had two drummers and a keyboardist and only one song, possibly two, featured guitars. Still, she didn't sound bad, but this was a different type of performance to a usual standard band and not as engaging. Konichiwa Bitches wasn't bad, but With Every Heartbeat was the one which went down the best with everyone, despite very strong competition from Who's That Girl which was also popular. She seemed to have unleashed most of her hits and it was still nowhere near 9pm! Realising that we could catch a much earlier train home we made our way closer to the exit as Robyn returned to the stage to play Do You Know What It Takes. It was a song I'd known for ten years and a nice touch, even if she took most of the melody out of it. I don't know why she bothered though as the crowd didn't seem to know it, and most of them were already heading for the exit! She closed with a rudely titled Prince cover version called Jack U Off which was the most danceable song of her set and went down a treat. It was a full 25 minutes before the curfew but we figured she was unlikely to come back onstage and play anything else of note so we made for the exit, picked up a flyer and caught the train in superb time, arriving home before the sun had even gone down! Robyn had been worth the £11 we'd paid and had been a nice end to a well-orchestrated day out.
Setlist
Cobrastyle
Crash And Burn Girl
Handle Me
Sexual Eruption/Buffalo Stance/Push It (Medley)
Konichiwa Bitches
Eclipse
Bum Like You
Be Mine!
Who's That Girl
With Every Heartbeat
Do You Know What It Takes
Keep This Fire Burning
Show Me Love
Jack U Off
n.b. This setlist was from another gig, but it's either correct or similar

Mark: 7.0/10