CALLUM EASTER
Birmingham Town Hall
Callum Easter crowd FRENZY
It was great to see Callum Easter back in Birmingham so soon after his unforgettable set opening for Young Fathers at the 02 in Digbeth back in November. At the Town Hall on Saturday night, his band was rejigged. The show supplanted regular aides-de-camp singing twins, Jacqui and Pauline (from 90s band Soho) with bass guitarist & bvs. Jordan and Craig on drums, with the stalwart holdover being the rhythmonic Bentley Rhythm Ace doing the heavy lifting. The strobe light is still present, maniacally emphasising the danger. In extant moments you’ll hear something that sounds like a frenetic sped up Paul Haig Ghost Rider Motorcycle Hero (an all time great?), riding around and around in the basement of your skull. That's a little charmingly intense, right? Like your brain is coning. It really is that exciting. The effect is mesmerising.
Once the audience reconciles itself to the cliff face of audacity that is rock’n’roll music led by a piano accordion and embraces the snow blinding political charge of Callum Easter’s crumpled white clothes, in February, defying the Labour Day leisure class rules like Coco Chanel captured in a klieg light, it's time to strap ourselves in to be entertained. 
That eye-catching green plastic drum? It is a multi-gallon item (see illustration) artfully and architecturally cantilevered into place by Callum’s stand up drummer. At this point it would be remiss not to mention, because, guitar love, well, what the hell was Jordan the bass player playing, that short scale red offset thing, because it was beautiful and I’d like one.
As the crowd at the Town Hall realises that anything could happen in the next half hour and not much of that might be anything expected, but will be everything you could hope for, the stage is set for Callum Easter to restore the essential uncanny so often lost during the past 60 years of industrially powered, commodification of rock’n’roll. His is a personification of a pup-tent carnival revivalist, refusing to come to heel. There is a gracious rawness. Few manage mashing melody and rhythm and texture with such alacrity right now. The way Callum sings it, is to hear soul still clinging to its original promise. OMG. We have to get this man to tread the boards of Bearwood. Very soon.
A new Callum Easter LP is forthcoming sooner than we know. April maybe. As good a reason as any to look forward to April.
Essentials
Main image, 'They're Not His Twigs' by SuperOona.
Check Callum Easter's website→ for tour dates across the UK and way more besides.
Callum Easter at Outsideleft→
