Live Review: The Lightning Seeds/ Badly Drawn Boy – Town Hall, Birmingham 10.11.22

The legendary Lightning Seeds returned to Birmingham this week bringing their latest tour to the beautiful Town Hall in the centre of Birmingham, surrounded by the bustling German Christmas Market.

Arriving to the venue ahead of the scheduled door opening times I could see people filing into the Town Hall so I walked it and got set up. Before I knew it the lights dimmed and Badly Drawn Boy walked out onto stage to a handful of waiting ears. I can’t help but feel the miscommunication on door/ show times hindered the crowd for Damon as he was on 30 minutes before advertised.

None the less Badly Drawn Boy played to the crowd (which was filling up as the set went on) chatting to the crowd while he tunes up, blaming a new pair of trainers for his mood and reminiscing about the last time he played in Birmingham, with a full band and plenty of booze.

This is a different Badly Drawn Boy however, that last gig 7 years ago was the last time he drank and now 7 years sober he shares the positive message to the crowd.

Playing songs from his debut album (hard to believe it is over 20 years ago!) as well as anecdotes from making the ‘About A Boy’ soundtrack as well giving us a first time listen to his new song ‘Fly on the Wall’ in its debut performance, Damon has the crowd in the palm of his hand, apart from upsetting the whistling community at the show.

As a fan of Badly Drawn Boy, the thing I’ve always loved about him is his captivating presence on stage, he drawns you in and you give him your full attention whilst he plays. Keep an ear out for the new track as its a good one!

After a short interval Liverpools The Lightning Seeds walked out to a huge applause from the waiting crowd. Its hard to believe that it has been 25 years since The Lightning Seeds released their best of album – “Like You Do”

Opening their set was ‘Sunshine’ from their latest album, which was released in June then taking it back to 1996’s album ‘Dizzy Heights’ for ‘Ready or Not’

Ian Brodie and his band played a set of over 20 songs, which was a perfect mix of old and new that didn’t leave people who were only there for their ‘very best’ waiting around. The second half of their set opened with the wonderful cover of The Bryds – ‘You Showed Me’ which mixed in with the visuals on stage and lighting was quite a sight and felt like a perfect starter for the big hits yet to come.

Bringing their set to a close with hits such as ‘Sugar Coated Iceberg’, ‘Pure’ and the sing-a-long favourite ‘The Life of Riley’ the crowd were left wanting more and more they got, when Ian and the gang returned to the stage to peform ‘Marvellous’ before leaving us with the very apt ‘Three Lions’ on the day the England squad was announced for the upcoming World Cup in Qatar.

Leaving the venue I was chatting with a fan who said “You can’t beat a Lightning Seeds gig”, I have to agree with him.

Setlist: