After one of the wettest beginnings to summer on record there were fears that One Beat Sunday would be a wash out, but that was not to be.
Amazingly the sun came out making it a beautiful day and so the sunny stage was set for the massive line-up of bands, and they did not disappoint!This was most certainly not Glastonbury, but more an event for new upcoming Birmingham bands like Red Method, the opening act who got the crowd going despite being no older than 18, and Not By Design who wowed the audience with incredible vocals from lead singer Alex Wareham.
Held in the mac’s outdoor arena there was plenty of room for people to watch but by 5pm it was packed and buzzing, the crowd mainly made up of young indie rock music fans (and a few parents).
Despite being in the old amphitheatre the sound was incredible, each band having superb technical support making the quality of sound all that more impressive. All the bands were greatly appreciated by the audience, but a few stood out.
The Scribers, a young alternative rock band, really sounded good and looked the part as well with real nice instrumentals from guitarist Liam Haste and vocals that reminded me of an early Kasabian sound. Another exciting performance was from the Jaccarandas who had some very well written songs and used jumpy bass and drum lines to be the first band to really get the crowd moving, however the vocals did not impress as much.
Other bands which also caught my eye were Poppy and the Jezebels, an interesting all-girl rock/techno group, and Swim Deep, a young band who – despite a large ego – were massively enjoyed by the teenagers in the audience and their heavy hitting drum beats and guitar melodies had everyone’s head nodding.
Certainly though the highlights of the event were Reggae/Ska band Tempting Rosie and headline act The Carpels. Tempting Rosie, already quite well-known in Birmingham for their wonderful mixture of funky guitar/bass riffs and brass melodies, brought a real energy to the stage which flowed right out into the audience and got every member moving in one way or another.
Even by the end of the whole event (a few hours after their set) people were still singing Tempting Rosie songs to themselves as they left. The Carpels were a brilliant way to end this whole magnificent event, the crowd were clearly excited to see them for when they finally came on stage the atmosphere shot up and it wasn’t difficult to see why!
They superbly combined rock with techno synthesisers, the bass and drums worked very well together to get people tapping their feet while guitarists Tom Minchin and Michael Darby played memorable melodies and lead vocals Dylan Williams finished it all off with a unique and almost impossible singing style.
On the whole this was a victory for Birmingham music and an outstanding display of some of Birmingham’s best new upcoming bands, costing only £10 for 7 hours of exciting new music talent it was well worth it!
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Sam Allan
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