Gig: Tigercub at The Asylum, Birmingham

Gigs

1 Nov

Last week, Brighton alt-rock trio Tigercub made their appearance at The Asylum in Birmingham, the third show of their release tour for The Perfume Of Decay. Having reviewed, and thorough enjoyed, the album, I figured what a better way to deepen my research than to experience the songs live, and hopefully, hear some of the band’s older work as well. Supported by shoegaze metal trio Terminals and rock group James and the Cold Gun, my expectations were set high for the night.

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Tigercub - ‘The Perfume of Decay’ review

11 Aug 2023

Josh Bradshaw

Tigercub - ‘The Perfume of Decay’ review

11 Aug 2023

Josh Bradshaw

11 Aug 2023

Josh Bradshaw

Terminals kicked off the night with ‘Origin’ for their opening track. James Cohu’s moody bass certainly caught the attention of everyone in the room, as the synth began to rise. Terminals are still a young band, only playing their first show in December 2022. However, when their lead vocals/guitarist (another James) begins singing, it’s clear why they’ve gained quick traction. His vocals were outstanding, never hit a flat note. They were powerful, clean; stood clear though the mix. There’s a stereotype in performing that the opening band is the least engaging – Terminals was anything but and captured most of my attention out of all three bands of the night. I’m looking forward to what the future holds for them.

James and the Cold Gun were next. Their sound was very different to the band prior, going for more of a classic rock/punk sound. The Cardiff quartet did have some decent songs, but their strongest point was their ambitious stage presence. There was good audience engagement and I noticed at some points the band had choreographed and synchronised stage moves – something rather rare to find among grassroots bands. It was unfortunate that with all their hard effort trying to hype the crowd up, it did feel unreciprocated, as there was not a lot of movement coming from the audience. Nevertheless, the band did not let it dishearten them and they kept the energy high right till the end in true showmanship fashion.

Finally, it was time for Tigercub. As the lights dimmed, the crowd began to roar. Rather unexpectedly, instead of the intro to one of their songs playing, the band came on stage to a Hip-hop track – something I haven’t seen before. Before Jamie, James and Jimi could even speak to greet us, they were met with an immense roar and cheer from the crowd. They could hardly get a word in (this continued to be a running theme through the night between tracks). Before I knew it, ‘Swoon’ began to play, and we were off…

The set was great, the band didn’t have to even try to keep the hype up as it was all there by itself. Songs like ‘Stop beating on my heart’, ‘The Perfume Of Decay’ and ‘I.W.G.F.U’ were definitely the highlights where the lighting went crazy to add to the atmosphere. I had noticed that the mix of the vocals in with the music had not been properly adjusted to fit Jamie’s falsetto vocals, which he uses a lot. Because of this, you couldn’t hear his voice for some sections of the songs. This didn’t take too much away from the show though as there was clearly a lot of love for the band in the room and most of the crowd were screaming every word anyway. At one point, Jimi even commented “This feels like a hometown show”, something I’m sure the Brummie fans will boast about.

Overall, I had a very enjoyable experience. However, I should note that there were some individuals in the audience who did not seem to understand, or did not care for, gig etiquette.

Partway through the night, a rather aggressive pit appeared towards the band and side of the crowd, to the disturbance of many attendees. This show was 14+, meaning we did have some younger, smaller people present in a crowded space. In these cases, it’s expected that the mosh pit is more of a push-pit, allowing for a safer experience for all. At the same time, regardless of age, the pit should ALWAYS be in the centre of the room. Both expectations were ignored by a specific group aggressively, pitting to the side of the room, charging and shoving people half their size in an area generally understood to be a safe distance from any rowdiness. It was an obvious annoyance to those nearby, and intimidating to many.

While this wasn’t Tigercub’s fault, and may have gone unseen from the stage, I can only encourage everyone - bands and venues especially, individuals when appropriate - who does see behaviour like this to call it out. We love a mosh, but not at the expense of safety or overall enjoyment for the crowd.

All in all, it was a pleasure to see Tigercub play on this tour, and experience their excellent supporting bands.

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