Live Review: Blackberry Smoke - O2 Academy, Birmingham
26th March 2023
Support: Read Southall Band
Words: Cat Finch
Photos: Tim Finch
Every time Blackberry Smoke return to these shores they find their stature has grown, nine years ago when this band first crossed our paths they’d been booked in Wolverhampton to play a small club venue, which ended in a venue upgrade due to high demand for tickets. All this time later they return for a sold out run of dates in the UK in even larger venues, proving their popularity continues to sky rocket.
The only support band for the evening are Oklahoma’s Read Southall Band. The young outfit take good old fashioned country rock and meld in modern elements to a high tempo, upbeat groove. Fronted by the masterful voice of Read Southall, he stands proudly front and centre, huge grin on his face, his eyes covered by his curly blonde locks.
Their set is a nine song introduction to the band, starting with the sublime ‘For The Birds’ through the raucous ‘High – Speed Feed’ and closing with ‘DLTGYD’. The majority of those in attendance this evening will not have crossed paths with Read Southall and his merry men before. We all go home this evening, looking to dig into their back catalogue.
But soon it is time for the main course of this rock n roll feast. Blackberry Smoke don’t need pyro or massive stage shows and the stage is set with few bells and whistles. Ready for a group of guys to come along play some tunes and get the room moving!
The set is a heady mix of southern rock fused with hints of country the band open tonight’s show with ‘Leave a Scar’, a staple of the bands set for a decade now. Whether they intend to or not they look and sound like a modern day Lynyrd Skynyrd complete with denim flares they look like they’ve walked straight out of the late 70’s.
The crowd, tonight wearing more stonewashed denim than on display in the last Wham video, get whipped up by vocalist Charlie Starrs deep Georgia twang as the band head off into ‘Good One Coming On’ and ‘Let It Burn’. As the set goes on there is a definite hint of a Pink Floyd influence which makes them stand out a little from those who have come before in this genre.
As the performance nears an end the band roll out their debut hit ‘Shakin' Hands With the Holy Ghost’ the Birmingham crowd is buzzing but it sadly comes to a close nearly two hours after it started with ‘Ain’t Much Left of Me’. This band are destined for bigger things, with a sold out tour like this it won’t be long before they are back, bigger and better.
All photo credits: Tim Finch Photography
