Maybe it’s a mix anticipation along with the sugar from all the chocolate Easter Eggs consumed but Mod classics from The Jam are met with rapturous applause and sing-a-long joy from the sold out crowd at the Civic Hall as The Stone Roses ‘I am the Resurrection’ comes on.

Pretty Green (Gallagher’s increasingly successful clothing label) is the dress de jour teamed with foppish scarves and Lennon-esque hair cuts for the more serious of the fans which are generally made up of 30-something blokes.

Chants for “Liam Liam Liam” are swiftly met by the bands on-stage entrance at 9.30pm sharp and it is here you begin to get the clear sense that Wolverhampton are definitely backing Team Liam in the Gallagher brother war.

Sounding more like a football match than a gig the stage is set with huge spot lights that tower like giant triffids while the stylish graphics on the back screen change for each track.

Looking sharp in a Parker (which stays on for the entire gig) tonight we are witnessing a different Liam from the frontman of Oasis days. The swagger is less, although the arms around the back and lean in to the mic stance is still very much there – but his vocals are softer and the on stage banter is nowhere to be seen. There is none of the attitude or sneering but a more ‘mature’ man that stands on stage before us.

The crowd is word-perfect for the opener tracks of ‘Four Letter Word’, ‘Beatles & Stones’ and ‘Millionaire’ but then these tracks all sit firmly on the first half of the album so makes total sense.

The melodic ‘For Anyone’ quiets the crowd down but arms are firmly back up in the air for single ‘The Roller’ and the sing-a-long continues in earnest.

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The Wolves audience are clearly loving seeing Liam onstage and you start to wonder how the rest of the band must feel playing second fiddle to the iconic Manc. This could easily be a solo project for Liam as far as the fans are concerned tonight.

The faster, more upbeat tracks are getting the biggest response; ‘Bring The Light’, with its 60’s beat and footage of girls dancing and spinning around on the screen, along with ‘Standing on the Edge of The Noise’ are both pleasers.

At this point we are 25 minutes and 8 tracks in – with only an albums worth of songs you start to wonder how much longer they’ll be on stage. Slower ‘Kill for a Dream’ is the plastic beer cup in the air moment and marks a momentary key-change in the pace of the gig. You feel the latter end of the album coming as ‘The Beat Goes On’ feels like the tale end of the album and the lesser known of the tracks.

In total the band (with encore) are on-stage for a full hour. Ending the set list with the psychedelic ‘The Morning Sun’ and completing the encore with the rockier ‘Sons of the Stage’ (a fitting red-lit raging end to the show) tonight it is clear that Wolverhampton love Liam and it doesn’t seem to matter whether this is in his Oasis or Beady Eye frontman guise.

Set List
1. Four Letter Word
2. Beatles & Stones
3. Millionnaire
4. For Anyone
5. The Roller
6. Wind Up Dream
7. Bring The Light
8. Standing on the Edge of the Noise
9. Kill for a Dream
10. Three Ring Circus
11. The Beat Goes On
12. Man of Misery
13. The Morning Sun

Encore
14. Wigwam
15. Sons of the Stage

In live performance Emmy the Great (songwriter Emma Lee-Moss) fought her corner, albeit subtly, for anti-folk.  She has been tied to this movement since playing for legendary promoter Sgt Buzfuz as one half of duo Contraband in 2003, and on Wednesday night those associations were confirmed.

The Glee Club proved to be a perfect setting for her style, rows of chairs facing a small raised stage giving the (hippy youthful!) collective the chance to explore her lyrics, the highlight of the gig.  Sometimes described as wordy, she flitted over dramatic and personal themes, hiding the depression of break down and “almost having a baby” in between more jovial folk moments.  To a more careful listener, something the awe struck seated room allowed, her wordiness revealed a subversive dark humour, full of philosophy and references to over-sexed Charles Bukowski (amongst many others!)  

Her ensemble, a collaborative work comprising of Euan Hinshelwood of Younghusband, Tom Rogerson of Three Trapped Tigers, and Ric Hollingbery of Pengilly’s, sang solid “alleluia” fuelled harmonies throughout.  Such gospel undertones harked to Damien Rice, where the combination of Emmy’s pronounced vocals lying on top of the male backers reinforced the emotive qualities of her lyrics.  These lyrics are, in part, secretive, disarmed by her stage presence and her beauty, but they are also confessional, full of self-doubt.  Maybe this is the draw for the check adorned teen girls that filled the Glee club, sitting transfixed by lessons from Emmy’s memory.  For the male contingent, it was the orchestration rather than her diary entries that upheld the (e)motion of the gig.  Clever clashes of clavichord and violin, and well-programmed backing from Tom Rogerson proved to be a welcomed antidote; it also made sense to prove their collective talents in the wake of their debut album “First Love”.

A small select witnessed a valuable performance from The Walkmen on Wednesday night at Birmingham’s Barfly.  They were utterly convincing from the outset, combining the ghostly undertone of their slower material with controlled and professional musicianship.  This set reiterated their movement away from a punk fuelled past (and the success of ‘The Rat’), and showed them to be a far more controlled collective.  Perhaps married life and New York suburbia has changed them as a group and as individuals, with positive results.  Now they have assumed attributes of early Pavement, and the packed out venue reiterates their value as cult figures that have the potential to enrapture crowds wherever they go.

Each member (apart from lead singer Hamilton) took to the stage donned in inconspicuous knitwear and slacks – get up which concealed the expressive music that would follow.  The first part was dedicated to new material, a special treat considering how few shows they are doing in this part of the world this year.  It infected the bulging crowd when they realised Matt Berrick’s precise drumming would propel the sound beyond expectations.  The numbers shifted between the lonely despair and frustration of ‘On the Water’ to the harmonic perfection of ‘In the New Year’, and each time the direction changed we followed suit, lamenting with the slower material and bouncing with the faster.  Hamilton’s performance was professional and convincing.  With the guitar in hand he balanced the more experimental efforts of the band, tying the movement of the sound together with constantly controlled rhythm.  He particularly excelled when he was given the chance to express his similarity to Bob Dylan on the microphone, something he played off against a darker side that was really refreshing.  

As the gig progressed, most of the crowd knew that they were in the presence of a superior movement.  There were no quirks to undermine them, instead The Walkmen stayed true to the strengths that make their recent album You & Me a success.  ‘Four Provinces’ was probably the highlight, because the quality of the performance summed up the whole evening: Unpretentious and engaging.  This performance really stands out as a marker, and justifies their place supporting the Kings of Leon US tour this summer.

Jon Watson