Page 43 - Black Velvet Rock Magazine Issue 109

BV109 pg 42-45 The Summer Set.qxp_BV109 pg 43 17/12/2023 19:02 Page 2

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‘The Night Is Young’ sees Brian play the keys at the start. The motivational song is
one of the stand-out songs for its inspirational lyrics, ‘Don’t give up when you’re down,
don’t look back on your life like it’s over now’. It reminds us how worthwhile concerts
are, and how they can bring you up if you’re feeling down, and keep you going, no
matter how old you are. ‘Fuck U Over’ is quite the opposite: a fun, living-in-the-moment
kind of song.
‘Change Your Mind’ is a sumptuous, sugar-filled, dancey tune, while Jess Bowen,
in particular, looks effortlessly cool as she keeps the beat on the drum kit during ‘Under
The Influence(r)’, a sober tale of heartbreak.
Brian tells the crowd he enjoyed discovering the Christmas market in town, which
made his birthday. There’s a cheer for the reminiscing ‘Teenagers’, in which guitarist
John Gomez infuses a nicely orchestrated mini solo. His playing also takes the spotlight
in ‘Rescue’ and ‘Girls Freak Me Out’, the latter seeing Brian tell him, “For my birthday,
I want you to play the greatest solo in the history of music – don’t fuck it up!” That’s a
big request, but John does not let him down.
‘All My Friends’ (“a story about why I don’t drink anymore,” says Brian) is silky-
smooth pop, while ‘Someone Like You’ brings the sunny, summer beach vibes. We get
an impromptu snippet of ‘Young’ by Brian on the piano when someone shouts out for
it, too.
Brian tells the crowd it’s his 34th birthday, and that they started the band when he
was 17, which is half of his life. He says he doesn’t know if he’s ever played a show on
his birthday, so tonight’s concert means a lot to him. He sings a song he’d written spe-
cially for his birthday about turning 34, before the band walk back on stage, bringing
him the aforementioned birthday cake. The audience sings ‘Happy Birthday’ to him and
he blows the candles out and takes a bite, inviting the audience to have some after
the show.

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