Sunday, October 21, 2007

The Enemy: Birmingham Carling Academy


Max and robmacca holding up Max's new Enemy poster

The Enemy gave the Coventry faithful another night to remember at Birmingham Carling Academy with yet another stunning performance as Andy Hopkins braved his illness to make it to the gig. The Wombats sadly couldn't say the same as they had to pull out due to "unforeseen circumstances" but Lethal Bizzle and his crew put on a cracking warm up and were warmly received by the crowds.

I had a good view of the crowds from the balcony and can honestly say - everyone was up for a good night. Long after the gig was finished the singing and chanting continued as several thousand fans streamed out of the Carling Academy and back home to Coventry. The New Street train station must have resembled a post football match scene when fans filled the platform. These fans tonight were celebrating another victory - for The Enemy.



Rob, Max and robmacca enjoying The Enemy gig in Birmingham

The Enemy kicked off their show with "Away From Here", so it was no messing about - just straight into an anthem. The crowds loved it as plenty of plastic lager glasses made it to the stage and the whole crowd danced, sang along and partied like it was a New Year party! The videos captured the scene quite well and can be seen at: http://www.theenemy.eu/gigvideos.aspx .

Tom Clarke asks "How the fuck is it going Birmingham?" to which the crowds respond with cheers and shouts, then The Enemy launch into "40 Days and 40 Nights". It was hard to define where the mosh pit started or finished because so many in the crowd were dancing. The press and photographers must have got a few good pictures during "Pressure" with lots of flashing lights and egar supporters. For "Technodanceaphobic", Tom said he wanted to see the "whole fucking room" dance to it and he got his wish because we all went mental! By "Had Enough", everyone was singing along. Could the Saturday crowd out do the Sunday crowd for "Aggro"? Well, by the looks of the video the Saturday crowd put on a good show with lots of crowd surfing to keep security busy at the front.

A funky and fancy introduction to "This Song" calmed things down a little as the alcohol kicked in and my vision became some what blurry but about 1:38 seconds into the song the Coventry faithful were back on fine singing form. Making up for the blurred video I'd managed to record! Could this be another fine anthem in the making? The clapping supporters certainly think so.

Andy Hopkins jumped from the stage to crowd surf, even though as mentioned earlier, he had been ill in bed the day before so we were lucky he was here at all. That didn't stop the people crowd surfing and "It's Not OK" always guarantees results.

The next song, "You're Not Alone" has always been a special song to Tom Clarke and means a lot to the people of Coventry as well who have witnessed the demise of Peugeot and Royal Mail's determination to ruin postal services in the city. Watching the video through again and it looks like a scene from the miners strike of the 80's as the security separated the band from the crowd. But this crowd were 100% behind The Enemy, so no danger other than possible stage invasions threatened security. Arms were raised in the air as an act of solidarity as Tom, Liam and Andy performed. Another personal song "Happy Birthday Jane" and then finally "We'll Live And Die In These Towns" provided one last chance for everyone to sing-a-long before making a joyful loud exit from the Carling Academy in Birmingham.




A view of the crowd, stage and The Enemy





Finally, why not capture or re-live the atmosphere from the night by watching these crowd videos I recorded:


Crowds straight after The Enemy gig.


Chanting fans at Carling Academy and train station.







  • My Website: "The Enemy" - Click to read the latest on The Enemy.
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