Words by Isaac Vernon
Photos by Celia Medina
The gig was hosted in a venue I didn’t have much hope for; I only had blurry recollections of going once many years ago when I probably wasn’t old enough to be in there (sorry!). The room was, however, very accommodating for a rock gig like this; pillars aside, the space was nice and big, with a couple of different bars around the outside and no real bottleneck areas. The Geordie crowd also delivered great energy throughout despite it being a Sunday night. You could tell Big Special were feeding off this and were intent on keeping the party going.
Big Special’s gig echoed memories of seeing Soft Play (known as ‘Slaves’ at the time) right as they were getting big; just two lads on stage, presumably best friends, with just a mic and Callum Moloney behind a drum kit. Musically they reminded me more of Yard Act, proudly wearing their hometown influences on their sleeves and wielding their accents to convey their strong messages about the state of the country right now and what it means to be working class in the Black Country. Listening to them at home never led me to believe these guys were just a two-piece.
Once ‘BLACK DOG / WHITE HORSE’ started halfway through the set, I was reminded of how I felt listening to them on my headphones walking home from work, assuming they were a full band and never considering they had about half the number of members I presumed they did. Discovering now that this song is their most popular was a surprise to me; it’s great, don’t get me wrong, but the latter half of the set was filled with much more energetic songs than that one, such as ‘SHITHOUSE’ and ‘PROFESSIONALS’, which the crowd really responded to in comparison, with catchy shout-along moments in both. Another highlight for me was ‘THIS HERE AIN’T WATER’, in which vocalist Joe Hicklin gave a powerful performance; his vocals were just as raw and extreme live as they are on the record, a true feat given how intense that must be on him.
If you’re able to score tickets to any of the shows left on this almost completely sold-out tour, I’d highly recommend it; if only to see two friends since the age of 17 proving that you don’t need a big band to make a big impact.
Support came from GANS and Good Health Good Wealth
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