Music Critic Beatrice Lancet reviews Sea Girls show in Birmingham, praising the bands energy and their relationship with the crowd
From the moment that the first chords of ‘Damage Done’ echoed out, Sea Girls held the attention of the audience, with their energy leaping off the stage. The crowd was electric, with anticipation heightening as the lights flickered crazily across the packed-out O2 Academy.
The crowd was electric, with anticipation heightening as the lights flickered crazily across the packed-out O2 Academy
In 2019, with their first album, Open Up Your Head, playing on repeat, I had sat excitedly waiting for a tour announcement and yet, weeks before I could experience their anthemic indie-rock in person, the live scene was closed due to Coronavirus restrictions. Two years later and there we were, with Sea Girls celebrating Homesick, their second album which reached number three in the UK album charts, with the band touring around Europe, coming to Birmingham on the second night of their UK tour.
The band were channelling the spirit of their track ‘Lucky’, a fitting beginning as they truly were ‘on fire tonight’, before they launched into an earlier release, ‘Open Up Your Head’. These two tracks set up Sea Girls’ setlist as one combining old fan favourites and new releases. Leaning up on the edge of the stage, frontman Henry Camamile pointed out a spot a little to right where I stood, proclaiming that this was where he had first stood in this venue for the first time seeing a band with a girlfriend. Little moments like this helped to create an engrossing show and a connection with the crowd. As the band continue to perform in the future, I hope they keep a focus on this relationship.
Setting the tone for the night, Henry sauntered across the stage through the hazy lights, wearing black blazer over a yellow t-shirt and shouting, ‘We’re gonna have a wild night tonight. We’re going to f***ing dance, mosh, sing really loud but we’ve got rules, that everyone respects each other’. As a young band, they seem to be aware that they not only want to develop a great live presence but also help to create a respectful fanbase.
…what particularly stood out for me were the performances of previously unheard acoustic versions of some songs
Sea Girls were in full swing, energetically playing big indie-rock anthems such as ‘Higher’, ‘Too Much Fun’ and ‘Paracetamol Blues’, but what particularly stood out for me were the performances of previously unheard acoustic versions of some songs. Although unexpected, the stripping down of ‘Transplant’ and ‘Lonely’ to just piano and guitar were beautiful additions to the show, highlighting the exceptional songwriting ability of the band and bringing the raw intensity of their lyrics to the forefront. The crowd became backing vocals and their clapping was the percussion in what became, for me, quite an emotional moment.
Equally, the full band together sounded glorious, with guitarist Rory Young pouring his heart and soul into guitar solos, running across the stage and flipping his hair. Singing the final lines of ‘Do You Really Wanna Know’ (‘Have we made it?’) I could see the elation on the faces of the band at seeing so many people drowning out Henry’s vocals, a core moment of seeing the connection between the audience and the band. Making changes to the live arrangement of the drums, in addition to focusing more on the bass in the ending of ‘Violet’ made it a surprising and fun track to listen to live, allowing a great climatic end to the song.
Equally, the full band together sounded glorious, with guitarist Rory Young pouring his heart and soul into guitar solos, running across the stage and flipping his hair
Ending with a triple encore, the band surprisingly first chose ‘Daisy Daisy’, a softer hypnotic song which felt a little anticlimactic after so many big indie hits even as the anthemic guitar riffs rang out and climactic lights flashed. While the band have a great selection of songs to choose from, it was clear which ones the crowd wanted to hear most and some of the tracks chosen throughout the night did surprise me.
Although missing out on the chance to substitute the reference to Manchester for Birmingham in the song, their second encore, ‘All I Want to Hear You Say’, was a highlight of the show. As their highest listened to song on Spotify with over 30 million listens, the crowd certainly expected to hear it and reacted with such vigour and excitement at its opening chords, jumping up and down and singing the loudest of the night.
As the final song began, the catchy melody of ‘Call Me Out’ was repeated back by thousands of mouths in the crowd. Walking away with a yellow guitar pick in my pocket and the image of the flashing yellow, blue and red stage lights illuminating the Sea Girls logo in my mind, the crowd rang with excited chatter about when Sea Girls would be next returning to perform in Birmingham.
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