On a freezing cold November night, the Family Rain headed to Birmingham hot off a nationwide tour supporting Jake Bugg. Opening this show were iC1s [0] from London. After a very successful 2012, they performed to very little fanfare. The set was seriously hampered by the frontman, Daniel Coburn, in a very intoxicated state that he was struggling to stand up, let alone sing. However the band, minus the vocals, were fairly good however the frontman’s constant desire to be Noel Gallagher may hinder the band in the long run. Next on the bill were Darlia [2], fronted by a Kurt Cobain wannabe. With every song starting with identical riffs to Nirvana, the crowd was a little disappointed when every time they started but didn’t actually perform a Nirvana cover. Their music was hindered by the fact it hadn’t sounded modern and cutting edge since 1992 and it was just simply boring.
The main headliner, The Family Rain [4], came on stage and although there was a small crowd, the majority were very excited. Having only released singles and an EP meant their set consisted of the majority of this. The band, from Bath, also played a new song off their debut album set to drop at the start of next year. However no matter how good the music was, the bands’ banter between songs left the impression that they are very dislikable people. One particular incident that left a lasting impression was where the frontman called a security guard something very unpleasant purely for doing his job and kicking out a crowd member who was causing trouble. This incident and their general unpleasantness really tainted their music and whole performance, and caused a fair few people to leave early. Closing on Trust Me I’m A Genius, one of their standout songs, left a more positive impression on the crowd however it didn’t stop the vibe of the band not being people you would want to spend too much time with. Overall it was a disappointing gig with all three bands failing to perform to the standards that you would expect for live music.
