Page 43 - Black Velvet Rock Magazine Issue 102

BV102 pg43_BV102 pg43 29/09/2019 23:43 Page 1

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STAND ATLANTIC – BIRMINGHAM MAMA ROUX’S, 27.08.19
When bands head over to the
UK for big festivals like Reading
and Leeds, it makes sense that
they try and make the most of their
trip and book some other shows
while they’re here. Australians
Stand Atlantic won over new fans
at the August Bank Holiday festival
before headlining some smaller
sold-out shows of their own. Mama
Roux’s was the location for their
Birmingham show, showing that
the fan attendance has doubled
since their tour four months earlier.
With the weather being scorch-
ing outside, it’s no surprise that a
packed, sold-out show at a 300 ca-
pacity venue is also going to be a
hot one. ‘Bullfrog’ is the perfect
song to open with as it’s so bouncy
it urges you to hop along like a bull-
frog. And with no barrier and the
fact that the band had tweeted
‘Brum, let’s get ugly tonight pls’, it
wasn’t long before audience mem-
bers took it upon themselves to
start crowd surfing towards the
stage and back. Credit to the band
for managing to not let the count-
less stage invaders affect them as
they continue their set with ‘Speak
Slow’, ‘Push’ and ‘Skinny Dipping’,
the title track of their 2018-re-
leased, full-length album. The sing-
along for the latter in particular is
massive. To go with the fact they’re
in the UK, vocalist Bonnie Fraser
sings the final line as ‘skinny dip-
ping in baked beans’ rather than ‘in
my jeans’. The more fragile ‘Tooth-
pick’ (a song about heartbreak –
‘’Yeah, fuck them!” says Bonnie
after a member of the audience
shouts it out first) and ‘Burn In The
Afterthought’ are played acousti-
cally with just Bonnie singing and
guitarist David Potter. Bassist Miki
Rich, whom the band have now
made an official member, and
drummer Jonno Panichi, join them
towards the end of the song as it
kicks in. There’s a huge chant for
‘one more song’ before the encore,
which sees the band delighting the
crowd with not one, but two more
songs. Boots of WSTR (who the
band have toured with previously)
is brought out as a special guest for
the heavy-hitting ‘Coffee At Mid-
night’, taking on guitar duties, while
Bonnie sings with just the mic for a
change. Everyone’s favourite
‘Lavender Bones’ wraps up a fun
and frenzied night, leaving every-
one to go home with wet hair and
clothes from all the sweat and what
was one of the hottest shows we’ve
ever been to.
YYYY
SBV
Bonnie Fraser (Stand Atlantic) Photo
By Shari Black Velvet

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