Our night begins with the Aussie sensation that are Between You & Me and boy, do they know how to start a show the right way. Their stage presence is clear from the moment they walk out on stage and everyone at this Birmingham show is lapping up what they’re putting down; the energy on stage is reflected by everyone in the crowd and people are starting to lose their voices already (mainly me to be honest). Their 2018 hit ‘Dakota’ has the audience fully pumped and they end their incredibly short and even sweeter set by heading into the crowd and getting involved in the circle pit. Whilst our next act, Heart Attack Man are heavier and lesser known, that doesn’t stop them from giving their absolute all to a crowd who perhaps aren’t as generous to them as they were BY&M.
Now, for the main act; State Champs. This tour is their ‘Kings of the New Age’ which at this point, has only been out for 5 days so ‘Here to Stay’ & ‘Eventually’ don’t get the warmest of welcomes but the 3rd song of the night ‘Revolve‘ let’s this 4 piece know that they’re oldies are definitely goodies. This audience do what their told as every hand shoots into the sky at Derek Discanio‘s request. The energy on stage is electric and exactly what this bunch of Birmingham gig-goers are after as there’s not a person who can’t resist moving to State Champ‘s sound – Bassist Ryan Scott Graham is clearly having the time of his life which is admirable. ‘Mine is Gold‘ is first of the fan favourites and another request from Derek gets a dance party going for ‘Act Like That‘ though the matching rainbow lights do help.
‘Simple Existence‘ is another popular one and as they keep producing the older song, this audience just keeps getting louder – ‘The Finer Things‘ album is a clear winner from this setlist. This is a crowd surfers paradise. Singles from the KotNA album such as ‘Outta My Head‘ and ‘Just Sound‘ that have been out for a little while has given everyone time to practice but when it comes to ‘Everybody But You‘, everything else is blown out of the water. The last 5 songs of the night have to be experienced to believe. There has never been a reaction to a song the way this lot react to the beginning of ‘All You Are is History‘ and it only gets wilder from here. ‘Secrets‘ is the only way to end the night when it comes to SC and no one leaves disappointed.
