Nervus are not your typical run of the mill pop punk band. For example, the Watford four piece sell own brand coffee on their merch stand. While their singer Em is one of the few openly trans rock vocalists. Yet really sets them apart is the quality of their tunes. Nervus mix Em's introspective and biographical lyrics with instantly memorable guitar hooks and piano melodies. Nervus' opening slot was a fun show with a party atmosphere. Em shouted out the other bands comparing the tour to a school trip where all the bands were naughty school children getting each together into trouble. Nervus’ keyboardist also entertained with his extravagant dad dancing. Em gave a shout out to all the trans kids in the audience. All three of them danced alongside the band to the finale song of the set ‘it follows’ and had the last word of the set ‘protect trans kids’. (8/10) 
While Nervus’ were light hearted and fun Fangclub were relatively dour by comparison. Fangclub take Nirvana style grunge-pop to new levels of noise and heaviness. Keeping their heads down and delivering huge heavy riffs much like my faves God Damn. The Dublin trio’s singer plonked his mic stand into the audience twice and gave the Birmingham crowd a master-class in no frills rock n’ roll. (7.2)
I will always remember a Beckyless Milk Teeth headlining an almost empty Sunflower Lounge many years ago. In the years since then I have watched with pride as Milk Teeth have deservedly become one of the UK’s hottest and best rock bands. Milk Teeth’s show at Mama Roux's went down much like their last show in Birmingham where they turned The Flapper into a sweaty chaotic mess. Burly dudes and skinny emo teenagers alike came together in a violent mix of crowd surfing, moshing and circle pitting. Milk Teeth themselves weren’t safe either as (unknown to me at the time) guitarist Webby somehow broke his ankle during the first song and fought opn through the pain till the end. Fresh from supporting Enter Shikari on an epic US tour, Milk Teeth were in a reflective mood, playing ‘Bagels’ for the final time, having instructed everybody present to learn the words beforehand. Presumably to give Webby a chance to rest his ankle Becky and Billy gave the crowd an acoustic version of crooked spoons, ‘Kabuki’ and a surprise cover of Foo Fighters ‘Everlong’. Business was soon resumed as the rest of the band joined for some heavier songs. When he wasn’t encouraging the crowd to jump around Billy asked everyone to get their phones out and shine a light at the stage. Mama Roux’s was soon ablaze in bright white light. Milk Teeth saved the best for last with ‘Owning your okayness’ now officially their signature song. Becky announced that there would be no encores giving the crowd once last chance to sing the words out loud. A few people chanted for an encore but it didn’t matter. Milk Teeth had already delivered more than enough.
9.2/10
Note: I forgot my camera batteries so I had to use my phone to take these crappy photos. My gig photography is usually a lot better than this.
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