Marc Reck

Last night was a truly memorable Birmingham gig @ the Rainbow Warehouse supporting the Destroyers for the release of their debut single “Out of Babel”, and the night, as Rich Batsford quite rightly puts it, “was the most eloquent response to noise abatement you could want”..

The Rainbow Warehouse looked magnificent with it’s 1000 capacity space cut in half with a mid room stage, and a seated area with sofa’s at the back. The Destroyers collective and friends had gone to a lot of trouble and it really showed. With Syzygy’s ever impressive multi screen visuals, and a large array of hats adorning the ceiling, the venue had somewhat of a festival feel to it, especially when it was filled with people all bouncing in time to the music.

Doors opened at 9.30ish, and i got to warm up the room with the 1st of my 2 sets, playing a selection of world music, trip hop, reggae, and acoustic balkan, building the energy up to 360 who delivered a rocking ska set, with the transitions and hosting being beautifully handled by our hostess for the eve.

The place was brimming now with people and anticipation, and with energy like that bouncing around a room it was the perfect setting to drop some swing, and then some balkan music, which was a real joy to play, despite being unprepared.

Just 24 hours earlier, i had gone out to drop some posters off, and met a mate for a pint catch up before my planned practice session on the evening. A wine festival and some great conversation led to 3 pints and a whole bottle of rioja, which to be fair is far too much to be drinking any night of the week, not least a support gig like this!

Neverthless i was on a huge high after i’d finished my set, and worrying aside, it lead beautifully into the Destroyers set, which was the best i’d ever seen them perform.

It was a shame i didnt have enough memory on the card to capture the later parts of the set, but for anyone who missed it, here’s the start of the destroyers set from my view after finishing mine.

Just hours earlier Kent Davis & John Tigue had issued their response to the noise abatement order which was recently issued due to that recurring problem of just one complainer. Pete Ashton caught it on video, and its the same story as The Fiddle & Bone, Epic Skate Park, The Spotted Dog, and in my eyes, has been a complete contradiction of the Big City Plan.

Rainbow Meeting – Kent Davis from Pete Ashton on Vimeo.

Rainbow Meeting – John Tighe from Pete Ashton on Vimeo.