Venue:
The Rainbow, Birmingham
Date: 22/09/2015
Sweet Baboo is an unlikely pop singer. The name is a vehicle for Stephen Black, a short Welshman with a 1940s hair cut and ‘sensible’ clothing. He looks like a teacher, but he writes some of the most interesting pop songs I’ve heard in a while – think Divine Comedy meets the Super Furry Animals and you’ll be getting close.
The band is well rehearsed, though the sound’s a little muddy. Each song gets a short intro – “This is a mid-paced rocker”‘, ” This is a song about electronic library systems”, and if Sweet Baboo never seems entirely comfortable on stage, the tunes are strong enough to keep you engaged. If you liked him already then you’ll enjoy this, and if he’s new, you’d probably want to chat to him afterwards at the merch stall (he runs that too) and perhaps pick up a CD.
The audience:
About 50 people tops, hipster males brandishing their e-cigs, and female offbeat indie types. All very well behaved.
It made me think..
While it probably won’t help his bank balance any, sometimes it’s more fun for your favourite artists to stay small.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.