Cut Glass Kings and The Good Water rock Birmingham's Sunflower Lounge - review

The Good Water have been supporting Cut Glass Kings in recent day, having played in Manchester and Liverpool before returning to the second city for their home town gig.

Whenever The Good Water play Birmingham these days you can pretty much be sure it's going to be a near sell out – and when you add Cut Glass Kings into the equation as headliners, with their own legion of passionate fans, it was all going to be a great night.

The crowd was treated to parade of hits from The Good Water, a three-piece from Birmingham who pride themselves on some psychedelic riffs, tight musicianship and wonderful harmonies involving all three members – and, ultimately, great rock music.

See Your Light launched proceedings as lead guitarist and singer Rob Clements, from Redditch, opened with the unmistakable chunky riff before drummer Tom Fisher, from Erdington, entered the foray along with keyboard player Stuart Webb, from Great Barr.

The keys have that brilliant almost-seventies organ sound about them, which really compliments Clements and Fisher when they let occasionally let loose.

With HMW beginning to support local acts more and more in their stores, See Your Light is actually available to buy as a single in Redditch branch, Clement's home town.

Mansaid, another staple that has previously been released as a single, allowed Clements to scream into the mic as the song ended in rapturous applause.

And then we were hit with Tell Me What To Do, the award-winning single that took the best video gong at the Birmingham Music Awards, which builds early into a crescendo before the funky guitar that Clements occasionally swaps to an almost bass-like growl leads into the catchy chorus.

It's also a chance to listen to some serious guitar soloing but if you want to hear The Good Water at their best, in my humble opinion, then you need look no further than Breadcrumbs.

The song is pretty much all instrumental but really allows the band to get their groove on. And what a groove it is too.

The band has also brought the song Apples, following a self-imposed hiatus, back from the dead but this one is an extended jam. And, again, it was just five or so minutes of Clements, Fisher and Webb letting their musicianship do all the talking.

Again we had the crowd chanting, ‘Oh, love is coming’ as they broke into Love, which slowed everything down, before ending the set with Everything Is.

That's probably that for The Good Water for 2019 but next year looks to be even more exciting as they work towards a new live-version of their music, which is set to released soon.

So watch this space as an official five-track EP could also be on the horizon. Exciting times lie ahead.

And then it was time for headliners Cut Glass Kings.

I'd done some research, I know should've known more about them before the gig, especially as they are two-piece rock band from Birmingham, but for whatever reason their music had passed me by.

However, discovering a new band is always exciting and as soon as I listened to Here Comes The Light, I knew they were group I would enjoy listening to.

A great drum beat, backed by some nice harmonies and, most importantly, wonderful fuzz-ridden rock guitar.

It's quite a simply song but a lot of the best ones are. It's got a nice accompanying video too, neatly filmed in black and white.

Shadow of Your Voice is another song that just makes you feel happy and all of the band's music is easy to dance too.

I think it's the drumbeats that really bring the tracks to the fore. It drives the music on in such a subtle way.

Dream in the Dark is very reminiscent of Queens of the Stone Age because it's all about a high-pitched solo being played over the top of a lovely, in-your-face riff.

They really know how to put on a show and, following The Good Water, it made the evening at The Sunflower Lounge a very special night of music.

Gonna Get to You is perhaps the song that screams single more than most.

It just has that catchy riff and with the clear-cut lyrics it would be easy to see fans in a bigger arena happily singing along to it. At just over two-and-a-half minutes, it's the ideal length too.

And when it's played live, it gives the lead guitarist a bit more freedom to make his instrument really sing too.

It reminded me a little of a White Stripes songs – and as Jack White is one of my all-time heroes, that should say a lot.

But Cut Glass Kings certainly have their own style and after Saturday night's gig they've got another fan right here.

A mention must also go to Liverpool band Monks, who also played a really good set that set up the evening superbly – and they brought a fair few of their own fans along too, which was great to see.

Another brilliant night of live, local music laid on by Birmingham Promoters. Hats off to the organisers and staff too.