Page 46 - Black Velvet Issue 91

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AGAINST THE CURRENT / BEACH WEATHER – BIRMINGHAM ASYLUM, 03.10.16
As a successful run of UK tour dates nears its end, fans are alerted to the fact that Against The Current have to postpone their October 1st Birm-
ingham show due to illness. As luck would have it, the band have a free day on October 3rd, following their final UK show in Manchester on October
2nd, before headlining over to mainland Europe. So two days later than planned we’re at the Asylum in Birmingham awaiting a rescheduled show.
Unfortunately, some fans couldn’t make the new date, due to it being
a Monday (the original date was a Saturday), and As It Is, main support,
also couldn’t make it. So instead it’s a not-quite-so-packed and shorter
evening.
Beach Weather are the only support, and they take to the stage at
7pm for 30 minutes. We last saw them in the UK as opening for Sleeping
With Sirens. ‘Rebel Sun’ has a timeless Tom Petty style while ‘Bad Seed’
is a dancier number with a sexy beat to match the lyrics. Nick Santino,
Austin Scates and Reeve Powers play quite a scope of musical styles.
‘Wolf’ and Swoon’ both have a sultry indie vibe while bassist Reeve
Powers gets all rock ‘n’ roll on us on the floor of the stage at the end of
the set.
It’s been a while since
we’ve seen this many camera
phones in the air (ie. a lot!),
but Against The Current at-
tract them like bees to pollen.
All eyes are on Chrissy
Costanza as she sings her
heart out through ‘Runaway’,
‘Talk’ and ‘Forget Me Now’.
Despite still not feeling good,
she sings perfectly and puts
everything into her perform-
ance. If you hadn’t have been
told she was unwell you
would probably not have real-
ized. The band are boosted
up to a five-piece when they
play live, although the two
extra members are at the
back either side of drummer
Will Ferri. Chrissy tells the
crowd she can’t speak in be-
tween songs due to still being
ill, although later tells us,
“Dan’s supposed to be talking
but he’s too shy”, so she ends
up talking more. She tells us
a funny tale about how she
was sweating during the Lon-
don show due to stress and
embarrassingly told the 2000-
strong Shepherd’s Bush audi-
ence – and is now repeating
that tale. It’s easy to love
Against The Current as they
come across as down to
earth while having kick-ass
songs and performing them
well. It’s fun to hear a cover of
‘Teenagers’ by My Chemical
Romance. It’s not quite as dy-
namic as the original, but still
a solid cover. ‘Young & Re-
lentless’ is a sunny, happy, vi-
brant song, while ‘Brighter’ is
so good it ought to be topping
the charts. Before the final
number, ‘Gravity’, Chrissy
asks the crowd to give her
everything and promises to
give everyone everything she
has left. Neither lets the other
down and everyone leaves
on a high. 9pm makes an
early end to a gig night, but
it’s proof that it’s quality not
quantity that counts.
YYYY
Shari Black Velvet

Chrissy Costanza (Against The Current)
Photo By Shari Black Velvet
CONCERTS