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Having been off the scene for a while, The Pigeon Detectives are back with a vengeance and a brand new album. Their live performance supporting James a few months ago was good enough to make us want a second helping.
We caught them playing the tiny Library at Birmingham’s HMV Institute which was something of a surprise as you would expect the band to grace a modestly bigger venue. But The Pigeon Detectives were on a mission to remind their fans why they are one of the top live acts to go and see.
Warming up the audience were York based Club Smith and Morecambe’s The Heartbreaks but neither band seemed to make any impression on the eagerly awaiting Birmingham crowd.
The Pigeon Detectives opened with ‘I’m Not Gonna Take It’. From the offset front-man Matt Bowman was doing his trademark scissor kicks and bouncing around, oozing copious amounts of energy and enthusiasm. Unfortunately, this moment was short-lived as a power outage threw the band off their game. Bowman was noticeably pissed off and left the stage in an attempt to regain his composure.
As soon as the power was restored he bounded back out as they launched into ‘What Can I Say’. Despite technical issues continuing throughout the evening, including some awful monitor feedback, the crowd were either oblivious, or just didn’t care. Their only concern appeared to be the energy of the performance which is something The Pigeon Detectives are more than capable of delivering.
With sweat dripping and adrenalin pumping,’Take Her Back’ closed the main part of the set. The guys were soon back for an incredibly rousing encore of ‘What You Gonna Do’ and finally, ‘I’m Not Sorry’.
It’s pretty much a dead cert that we’ll be seeing these guys playing a big part on the festival scene on larger stages where they so naturally belong.
New album ‘Up, Guards and At ‘Em’ was released last Monday.
Words by Tina Bass. Photos by Lara Leon-Cullen.