Ghostpoet, Mama Roux's, Birmingham - Review
It was Halloween, and the trick or treaters were stumbling round the streets looking for their sugar fix.
But nobody’s outfit this evening could have possibly matched that of Ghostpoet, AKA Obaro Ejimiwe, who looked as dapper as always in his suit jacket and open shirt upon the stage at Mama Roux’s.
The boy’s got swagger. It oozes out of him with effortless ease. If he was any more laid back he’d appear on stage horizontal in a sleeping bag.
But it seemed that some of that more relaxed approach had rubbed off too much on his crowd tonight. A few appeared not to care much for what was going on down the front. One patron snapped at her companion ‘get off your damn betting app’. While the loud conversations around the sound desk resulted in the techies leaning over to kindly ask them to shut up so they could hear what was coming from the stage.
More fool them; they were missing a good show. The grizzly underbelly of Ghostpoet’s writing holds venom that simmers nicely below the surface. Even when he seems to be in a lighter stratosphere, there is never a witty dig at modern life too far around the corner.
His deep and swish voice held council. X Marks The Spot showcased its range nicely as staccato guitars propelled it along. Starting off more melancholy, the set built nicely throughout its second half to a higher octane finale.
There was also fragility to the dystopian sound tonight. The acoustics in Mama Roux’s aren’t always the best and it made some of the jagged sound effects seem more fearful. Live>Leave was one such track. That sliced guitar sounded even more desperate as it weaved its way through the room.
But it was when he brought out the heavy artillery at the end that people properly responded. Immigrant Boogie off new record Dark Days + Canapés sounded simply dangerous with that delicious jangling riff.
And in his encore, the sped up, lighter version of Survive It sounded fantastic - it was worth attending for alone. It added a layer of hopefulness to what is at heart a bleak number. It was brilliant work from the band to give it fresh life.
And he finished with that upbeat chorus of Off Peak Dreams. It added a chunk of funk to the end of our night to show a crowd mixed in age and style he had way more than one string to his bow.
