Big Special

After releasing their second album National Average in July last year, the band brought their raucous music to a sell-out crowd of 1500 people at the O2 Institute in Birmingham, their biggest ever hometown show. With a homecoming of this stature, there’s bound to be a weight of expectation to take their notorious live performances to another level, but thankfully any doubt was erased from the first minute. 

The first support of the night, Good Health Good Wealth, provided some great entertainment with their spoken word, millennial-esque tracks. Even while nursing a broken collarbone and having a sling around his arm, front man Bruce Breaky was full of energy and often chatty with the crowd in between songs, aided by his accompanying pint on stage. Guitarist Simon Kuzmickas’ killer solos and riffs added to every bit of storytelling on show, offering a quirky yet relatable outlook on life and some of okur society’s biggest issues. Tonight wasn’t just a homecoming for Big Special though, as second support GANS are Birmingham-based and played an astonishing set to an adoring crowd of Brummies. Their blend of industrial rock, techno beats and alternative music are flawless in a live setting, with drummer Euan Woodman and bassist Tom Rhodes combining to create an almost lethal duo, the perfect warm up for an act like Big Special.

And as soon as the duo walked on to the aptly-fitting tune of ‘The Boys Are Back In Town’ by Thin Lizzy, you knew this was about to be one hell of a gig. Starting the set off with the short yet snappy ‘Black Country Gothic’, there were already people on shoulders, pints flying and choruses of voices shouting the words back at Hicklin and Moloney. This intensity continued with the equally fantastic ‘Hug a Bastard’ and ‘God Save the Pony’, where you could really sense the sell out crowd making themselves known. Despite there being a large number of ‘Radio 6 Dad’s’ in the audience (which Joe even pointed out), there were a multitude of fans from all different backgrounds, highlighting the wide appeal of the band. What the audience gave back, the band certainly channeled in their passionate delivery on stage.

While the lack of live instrumentation was unfortunately noticeable and well missed, it was more than made up for by Moloney’s incredible drumming. Whether it’s the mind-boggling fills on tunes like ‘Shop Music’, or even subtle things like how he takes the band’s newest song ‘Sluglife’, his backbeat makes the sound even more electric in a live setting. Hicklin is also a seriously impressive vocalist, and even when he’s often seen with his characteristic spoken word delivery, moments like the octave jump in ‘Black Dog / White Horse’ provide a powerful boom. This comes together best on ‘Dragged Up a Hill’, where the band paid tribute to the band’s friend lost to cancer. Perhaps the two at their most vulnerable and emotional, this song is emphatically delivered, and even if Hicklin is at moments shaky with staying on pitch, these little imperfections make the performance all the more impactful. 

As they approached the end of their 80 minute set, the vehemence of their set only went up and up. ‘Professionals’ and ‘Yesboss’ are Big Special at their punky, raw best, complete with deafening deliveries and crashing cymbals. Closing out the main part of the set with what they deemed as ‘the national anthem’, ‘Shithouse’ was the perfect pick and is most certainly a fan favourite. Hicklin decided to start off the encore by jumping into the crowd for ‘Trees’, welcoming the warm embrace of many sweaty but adoring fans, before then going back on stage to read a poem, accompanied by a sea of phone torches. Despite these two actions separated by mere minutes being completely juxtaposing, it embodies just what the band is capable of. Their balance of deep, soulful moments with the raging rock that we all know and love from them works seamlessly, which is certainly not easy to do. Finishing the set off with ‘Dig!’, and walking off to a rapturous applause (of which they received many during the night), it’s no surprise why venues are packed to the brim. There is truly something so uncompromising about Big Special and their meteoric rise is a testament to the pair’s genius. It won’t be long until they’re selling out the 3000 capacity Academy a few miles down the road, and who knows how far they really can go.