The evening’s entertainment began with an unexpected incident in which a World War II bomb was discovered in the Birmingham area. This made travel to the Inglorious HMV launch show difficult but not impossible for the dedicated fans of this great band who turned out to support their new album launch.
Inglorious
HMV, Birmingham – 15 May 2017
Words: John Inglis
Pictures: Scott Clarke
The session was a relaxed affair with smiles all around. It showed from the outset with lead singer Nathan James bantering with the crowd as soon as he entered and took his seat in the intimate venue. Penny, a lady from the audience, shouted out it was her birthday. In an impromptu surprise, Nathan led Inglorious on a sudden rendition of ‘Happy birthday’, just especially for the lucky girl.
With pleasantries exchanged and the crowd eagerly wanting to hear the band, Inglorious launched into possibly their most famous song, ‘Until I Die’. The acoustic rendition loses none of the impact of the original. It got the crowd into the swing of things from the get go. This terrific opening was followed up by another classic from the first album in ‘Breakaway’, the usual super up-beat, high intensity number took on a new life in this performance.
Then things took a turn for the new when the band decided to play tracks from their latest release, ‘II’. First came ‘Read All About It’ followed by ‘Making Me Pay’, both of which have already been previously made available online prior to the album’s release to whet our appetites.
The audience lapped up what were typical Inglorious anthems. This showed that if the rest of the album was anything to go by then it would be equally as excellent as their inaugural venture. The band then slipped back into the familiar with yet another classic from the debut album, ‘Girl Got A Gun’. This was followed by one final track from the new album, titled ‘I Don’t Need Your Loving’, to finish off before proceeding to meet and greet with the awaiting supporters.
Instruments and vocals all sounded superb. Nathan’s vocals reached all the highs we are familiar with and Andreas’ superb guitar solos were even more exceptional to behold as he played them on an acoustic guitar.
Colin’s bass added punch and impact to all of the songs as did the elusive Phil Beaver, who is usually out of range on the drums. He was pleasant company sitting atop a JuiceBox which he played expertly. The noticeable change being in the rhythm section where Drew Lowe replacing Wil Taylor, held his own quite comfortably.
After the half hour set in the very warm, stifling store, every member of the band took the time to meet their fans, sign autographs, hand out posters and have their photos taken. This is the kind of interaction that will keep the fans always coming back for more. Nothing was too much trouble for any of them.
A genuine pleasant bunch of guys with a genuine talent that deserve to go far in this business.
