Review: Flip the Lid – BrewDog – 2 March 2014

It was Brewdog’s birthday at the beginning of March, and marking the occasion was a fantastic gig of wonderful local music put on by I’m Not From London. Flip The Lid is an acoustic night put on every two weeks at Brewdog Nottingham, which showcases some really special local talent.

Speaking of special local talent, kicking off the evening was ANWYN WILLIAMS, who I’ve managed to see so much of lately, that I think I’m beginning to know her songs inside and out! She kicked things off with the fun, lively, upbeat Drinking in Bars. After some slight feedback issues, it all managed to settle down, and allowed her to take the stage by storm with her powerful voice, and guitar which pushes the melody forward, especially during the “I’m fine anyway” lyric. The Rambler is next, which is a much darker number, with low pitched fingerpicked guitar, it rumbles and forms and angst filled undercurrent, which moulds her deeper vocals and works well. Walking Now follows, and keeps on with the sadder tones of the previous number, with passionately performed vocals, and melodies which broke hearts; it’s a gut wrenching song which gets me a little every time. She follows this with new track Old Bones, which she only played the previous night at The Breakfast Club’s album party (which you can read the review of here). It’s a quiet song, letting the emotions settle from the previous number.  The guitar is subtle and slow, and the simple chords allow for the lovely melodies in the fingerpicking and vocals to shine through. Another brand new song Bridges was really gorgeous, and had a more pop feel to it, which provided a nice change of pace from the country sound. It had a particularly intense chorus, again featuring heartbreak, which was repeated, building the intensity; “I burned all my bridges leading back to you”. Driftwood follows, with intense fingerpicking and flowing melodies, it seems very in line with its lyrical content too, really painting a picture musically of driftwood floating down a stream. Going Gone Away ends her set on a high, with its rising melodies and upbeat delivery, flowing perfectly into our next performer of the evening.

MARTIN SANDERS steps on the stage with his blues fuelled songs, with a cover of Country Blues. One thing that occurs to me about Martin is his blues guitar is more aggressive than most I’ve seen, which is really great to see, and he teams this style of playing with a mixture of both soft and shout vocals which aids the rollercoaster emotions of the song. Leave Me Be follows, which is another intense song, but is a bit more upbeat than the previous number, there are some really great pitch bending techniques being applied on the guitar melodies, which have a lovely way of filling in the vocal breaks. No Damn Good is the next song, which is another more downbeat number, and is more downtrodden with lyrics such as “go ahead and leave me”. It has a passionate vocal delivery, with a more rock influence coming through, but still retaining the classic blues style in the guitar. I even thought that the chord progressions and melodies were so interesting and progressive that it reminded me a bit of classical music, but maybe that was the Punk IPA talking. The next song in the set was Cocaine (All Around My Brain), which picks up the crowd a bit with a more upbeat number. It has some particularly good chord progressions and great sections, and a strong vocal delivery. It seems like this song contains a few influences including blues, jazz, rock and even pop a little. It’s great and Martin seems really connected to his performance, and really emotionally invested in the songs. His set ends on Four til Late, which ended the set on a more traditional blues feel, which rounded his set nicely. It was a particularly entertaining set, and great to see such a confident musician really nail his craft and thoroughly enjoying himself in the process.

Next up on the bill is a very special set from THE FADE, who step out of their electrified rock comfort zone and perform a set almost entirely acoustically (except for the electric bass guitar). With both Jackson and Sam on acoustic guitars instead of electric, and Joe donning a cajon rather than his drum kit, it’s a very interesting change for them. They kicked off proceedings with Capo on 2^nd, which is a gentle and sweet rock number, but with the acoustic set up, it really brings out the desperate tones in Sam’s vocals, and the acoustic guitars simmer gently, and are given punch from the cajon and more direction from the bass. Jackson played a lovely solo on acoustic guitar too during this one. The song has lovely developments during the instrumental sections, which have a low key feel when played acoustically. Waltz On 2^nd follows, which is solely an instrumental number, which sounds lovely with the acoustic, almost Spanish sounding guitar. The cajon and shaker come through and highlight the subtle melodies. The rock influences come through still, retaining the usual sound of the band, whilst the acoustic set up puts a new spin on things. Some Things is next, with Sam introducing the song, telling us it was the first song they ever wrote. It’s livelier than the previous two numbers, picking up the pace and acoustically driving the music in another direction. It’s upbeat, but retains some angst and dirty rock sounds with the bass. The fast paced nature of this song means they all have to be extra aware of each other, and their set up becomes more apparent. They are sat in a semicircle formation, which promotes communication between the members, and they are working together really well. They have to be even more in tune with each other during Perfect Storm, the next number on the bill. It is a longer, stretched out number, which has subtle, low key, downbeat melodies. Acoustically it’s kind of a different animal, with relaxed and sweet melodies playing out on gentle acoustic guitars. They’re working well together, making sure they are all staying in tune with each other. The instrumentation is really nice in this one, with careful considerations to the arrangements and how the songs transpire to an acoustic set up. It seems like the balance of the instruments have been considered, and the time and effort pays off in a beautiful performance. It’s laid back to, because they are all sat down together, it almost feels like a really great jam, which brings them closer to the audience. Ending their set with Best Before Blues, they pick up the pace again, and inject some energy for the final push. Usually Joe (rhythm) provides the backing vocals on The Fade’s tracks, but due to the acoustic set up, the job has been given to Jackson, who takes on the vocals and adds a new tone to them. The backing vocals are deep, with emotion and a definite moodiness which adds to the song, and contrasts nicely to the acoustic vibes. Their set was a laid back version of themselves, and it worked so well that I really hope they explore this set up more with some of their other tracks too. They work well as a rock group, but their stripped back acoustic ensembles brings out new elements to their music I hadn’t noticed before, and was rather lovely.

Headlining Flip the Lid were CHESHIRE AND THE CAT, a popular feel good band in Nottingham, who certainly brought the party vibes for the final act of the evening. With trumpet, sax, bass, guitar, cajon and vocals, it’s the largest ensemble of the evening, and the layers this provides certainly makes the music very funky and lively. Milk in the Morning is their opening track, with lively, jazzy and pop infused melodies; it builds up nicely with the trumpet and sax parts, before coming in with soulful vocals. The female vocals are passionate and strong, and her strength is complimented nicely by the softer and gentler male vocals. There are interesting sections in this number, and breakdowns, which prompt the audience into many false ending applauses. This enables the song to subtly change into the next number Beast is Back, which has an upbeat cheeky feel with the rising melodies in the chorus, complemented by the falling melodies in the bass. It’s fun, flirty and a burst of energy, preparing us for the next number Devil’s Jazz. Which has a gorgeous chorus, the female vocals erupting, with smooth chocolaty texture, and amazing strength. It’s got great arrangements and some excellent sections, there also seems to be a nice mix of genres here, including jazz, hip hop, pop and even rock at times. The songs are fairly long, but they change and develop often, and the instrumental sections and solos are particularly good. Next up was a cover of Wandering Eye by Fat Freddie’s Drop, which had some really nice moments where the trumpet and sax are playing together, and are stood in centre stage with each other. They are obviously having fun on stage and enjoying themselves, which is a pleasure to watch. Both the female and male vocals in the verse are sung in unison, which I think personally was a missed opportunity for some great harmonies to unfold. The vocals are lovely though, and the solos are great with power but still retaining delicacy and emotion. The cajon is strong and a driving force throughout, but is very similar, and although you need the rhythm section to be constant and not going all over the place, a little more variation could be really great. The final number of their set is one of their more well known numbers called The Sax Song. This number is more chilled, and ends the evening in a relaxed manner. The song is quieter, with gentle instrumentation, which is nice underneath the painful lyrics and angst filled melodies; “What happened to the love, what happened to the dancing? You said it’s gone, I said you’re wrong”. It has some great developments and although is quite a sad subject matter, it still manages to be upbeat, despite its more chilled nature.

The evening was a stunning one, with fantastic music, and I left that gig with a big smile on my face. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and thought for a birthday gig, you couldn’t really do much better! Thanks Brewdog!

Live Review by Cassia Helme