Geordie Blake and Black Heart Generator – Live & Free

Marc Reck‘s Live & Free events at the Adam and Eve (top of Bradford Street in Digbeth) have got to be amongst the best nights out going on in Birmingham at the moment. Great live music, nice people, a lovely little bar, free entry and a 4am license – whats not to like?

Last nights show featured a varied line up offering some of the best music being made in the city today, and 0 particularly for those following the on/off stage banter – a great little insight into some of its recent music history (see Baxxter, Starries, Egososo, Koala Grip etc).

Geordie Blake of Shanatova kicked things off with a debut solo set which he naturally found a bit of a learning curve, but his inexperience of solo gigs if anything only enhanced the performance as he let the audience in on his experience with frank honesty, rawness and humour – effortless and genuine showmanship.

Hopefully we’ll hear much more of Geordie solo as well playing with his tight and powerful band, since the stripped down versions of the songs showcase his excellent voice – a likeable and versatile instrument with the capability for raw power in the most passionate and intense sections and a strong, even falsetto to draw on in the quieter moments.

Next up, the front man of Recall 34 in his solo guise of Andre Aristotle offered a modern take on the traditional one man/one instrument solo performance accompanying himself with pre-produced tracks on some 80’s influenced electro pop.

I mostly missed Barnsey‘s street poetry due to chatting – its like that at the Adam on a Saturday tho – the room is long and thin so there’s potential to either get down the front and focus on the artists, or just hang out further back and chill.

Finally, Black Heart Generator rocked the joint in their inimitable fashion – some new songs added since I reviewed them at the Lamp Tavern a short while ago. They play fast and sometimes loose but for the most part very, very tight with Steve Kelly’s machine gun snare outburts punctuating and pounding additional energy into Greg Smith’s intricate and abrasive guitar and explosively articulate rants with Stu Mack rumbling away dangerously all the while on involved yet primal bass.